


This Will Be

by Metis_Ink



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Background Relationships, But a hella lotta fluff too, F/F, F/M, Family Drama, Family Fluff, Gen, Growing Up, M/M, Sawamura Brothers AU, Social Anxiety, actually more like family angst watch them faLL, it's a dumb american-japanese romcom that nobody can escape, lots of friendships, married ennomichi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-11
Updated: 2015-09-25
Packaged: 2018-02-16 23:47:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 92,480
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2289161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Metis_Ink/pseuds/Metis_Ink
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sugawara first encountered Sawamura Daichi and his bad-tempered teenage brother in the church halls before his best friend's wedding. He could fully admit that after that the rest of this story was all Tobio's fault.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. this will be

**Author's Note:**

  * For [boxofwonder](https://archiveofourown.org/users/boxofwonder/gifts).

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sugawara meets a man at his best friend's wedding.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EDIT (9/2015): Happy anniversary TWB! This chapter has been reworked and rewritten to fix characterization and continuity from what Had Been a year ago. We've come so far. Hope you all enjoy!

Sugawara took unpredictability to be one of the merits of life. In contrast to Asahi’s meek pessimism and Yui’s passionate optimism, he found there was always some room for a middleman: you could equally fail and succeed. It was a philosophy that hadn’t always stayed true to, but one that stubbornly kept him both grounded and confident through his disaster of a life.

The best part was probably how it made destructive situations seem like a passing tumbleweed. A twenty foot tumble weed. Made out of barbed wire. Sometimes. But passing nonetheless. Sugawara, in his infinite war with fate, had encountered a good number of such tumble weeds in his life: his first year of high school, his cheating college boyfriend, sudden calls from his dad, and other ungodly titles.

Though the one thing that could compete with that was how much better it made watching other people go through their plights.

“I’m going to throw up,” Yui groaned.

Sugawara handed her a water cup. This time, Asahi didn’t protest; it seemed as if they both agreed that Yui’s two-hour bridal makeup was less important than the risks of her tossing cookies at the altar. This, of course, does not make his other best friend any less worried.

“Y-Yui, come on,” Asahi stammered as Yui downed the water like her bachelorette party beer. “You’ve known Ennoshita for seven years! Suga and I are… are very aware of how dedicated you are to each other.”

“How else could a man you got banned from a grocery store in his first year of college ask you to marry him?” Sugawara commented cheerily. He rubbed his chin in false contemplation. “It’s like a harlequin novel: _She left him… poor and starving… He resented her with a burning passion… one that would soon turn on the both of them… until death do them part_.”

“Koushi, shut up!” Yui punched him in the chest, but not hard enough to ruin his suit. She did look significantly less like she was about to cry, however. A+, Sugawara.

“Hey, we both know your love story is much cheesier than that,” Sugawara assured her, kneeling next to her vanity chair. “Just regard the whole fight to be a typical boy-meets-girl scenario. Ennoshita loves films; he knows the risks of the fleeing-the-altar scenario. They usually end really tragically. He wants better for you than that.”

“But what if he wants artistic flare!? Remember _Enchanted_? They were engaged for _ten years_ and they still broke up!” Yui stared hard into the vanity mirror, terrified.

“Well that kind of thinking,” Sugawara interrupted, “is not one of the Michimiya Yui I know.”

“Suga’s right,” Asahi managed to say to a startled Yui, which was impressive considering Sugawara’s mood. “You’re not going to be holding that Michimiya title for much longer. You can’t leave it a bad name.”

Yui sucked in a breath as Sugawara continued proudly. “What happened to the determined woman who was going to look back at her poor college self and shove in her face that ‘Hey! I married that lowly freshman moron from the grocery store and he damn right loves me!’ Unquote.”

Yui blushed wildly at the echo, but it blew away in the instant a fire lit in her eyes. With one last deep breath, she smacked her cheeks painfully hard that Sugawara could feel the sting. “Like I wouldn’t accept anything less!” she yelled. “I… I will not walk out of this church a Michimiya tonight!” And Asahi gave the most tremendous sigh of relief.

“That’s I like to hear,” Sugawara said with his most brilliant grin. “Now, if you want, Asahi is going to make sure you stay that way while I go steal you some of your own wedding cookies.”

Yui whined something incomprehensive, and the moment Sugawara was sure Asahi wasn’t going to object to the sudden job, he escaped.

All things considered, he was absolutely sure Ennoshita wouldn’t leave Yui at the altar, he knew him too well for that (as Sugawara made sure of). The groom was probably crying in panic onto his best man right now and Nishinoya was probably making it worse with every word.

Sugawara sighed. He felt so exhausted. He couldn’t imagine what it was like getting married. Yui always said he would have the easiest wedding ever since all he needed was to get him and his lovely hubby—probably some doctor or a business owner by her predictions— in a couple of fancy suits and grab some marble cake someone’s mom probably made, wasn’t that what guys did?

It sounded really sad when she said it.

 _Well, it’s not like I would make it easy for Ennoshita to leave her._ Sugawara suppressed a laugh at his now-far-off college memories. He didn’t think he would make it to the point where he would be surveying wedding halls for illegal cookies to feed to his best friend, the bride. It seemed like only yesterday Asahi was helping him write an essay over Yui’s death cycle of veterinary classes, and now they were 27 and suffering through their particularly regular adult lives.

 _Though so much has changed_ , he thought, making his steps slow. Sugawara shook the feeling off quickly and sped back up. If he so much as thought about it, he wouldn’t be able to stop. That wasn’t what he needed right now. He needed to help Yui, get his act together, and make sure this wedding went off without any unpredicted disasters—

“Ow! Oh, god—” Contrary to his intentions, Sugawara didn’t focus enough to stop himself from crashing into the man right around the corner. He stumbled, failed to regain balance, and didn’t refocus until a strong hand grabbed him and set him upright again. Sugawara was in such a daze that it took him a couple moments to actually register the face of the man in front of him.

“Hey, are you okay?” The guy said, and wow, he looked… absolutely horrible.

“Yes…?” Sugawara said, as if he shouldn’t be the one asking that question, not when the man before him looked more as if he were about to walk into a grave than down an aisle. His voice was ragged, his hair was a mess, and Sugawara had to count the bags under his eyes. But when he looked up, it was like looking into the sun itself. Sugawara took a moment to clear his throat. “Do you need to sit down?”

“What?” The man said, as surprised as he could be in such a drained state. Watching him try to smile was like trying to watch a fish breathe air. “I’m completely fine! I’m just here to watch a wedding. Make a speech at some point. I…” He bit his lip, lost. “I…”

“Sit down,” Sugawara told him sternly, and when he didn’t, Sugawara pulled him down into a nearby bench. “Much better,” he said with his best smile as the other man blinked awake.

“What was I doing?” he asked, confirming Sugawara’s suspicions.

“Telling me about the amazing speech you made for my best friend’s wedding,” Sugawara told him and fought to hide his laughter.

The man’s expression crumbled. “Wait, _you’re…_ But Nishinoya was Ennoshita’s… Or, oh my god, am I not keeping up with social circles again—”

“I’m best friend of the _bride_ , stupid,” Sugawara sighed, with a light cuff to the man’s scruffy head. “Hey, I’ve got a bride I have to send down the aisle in about an hour, and I need you to see how amazing she is before you find some decent sleep. Where’s your wallet?”

“My what?” The man only gave him a confused look, and close to panicked.

“Nevermind, here.” Sugawara fished a decent amount of money out of his own wedding suit stash and shoved it into the guy’s chest. When he tried to protest, Sugawara only let go with a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry about it! The nearest convenience store is about a ten minute walk from here and I want you to have some of that sludge. Do you have anyone you can send to get some for you?”

“Um…” The man only made a horrid, reluctant face. “My younger brother. But he’s…”

“ _Daichi!_ ”

The man— who finally had a name, thank god— jumped and turned to a tall, terrifying boy lurking at the other end of the hallway. Sugawara felt his heart drop to his feet as he stared at the two of them with icy eyes and a presence that could fill a gymnasium. But despite his dark looks, Sugawara’s fear quickly subsided in that he was, one, a teenager, and two, being directly challenged by Daichi next to him.

“Tobio, don’t yell in the halls!” Daichi hissed, and met to face him. “We can’t screw this up for Ennoshita. I promised him I’d be ready.”

“Shut up, you’re the one who was invited,” the teenager hissed.

Daichi shook it off and glared hard. “Stop acting as if you weren’t invited.”

“Honestly, I think Ennoshita will see worse than people yelling in the halls,” Sugawara commented, side-eying Daichi. “Like guests who show up half-dead.”

Daichi flinched. “That’s not…”

“You’re Tobio, right? Are you his brother?” Sugawara asked the teenager.

“Um.” Tobio appeared to be caught off-guard by Sugawara for some reason. He thought hard about his next answer, as simple as it should have been. “Yeah. Why, what do you want?”

“For you to buy your brother bad convenience store coffee.” Sugawara took the money from Daichi and handed it to Tobio, much to their surprise. “And quickly.”

Tobio stared down at the money as if Sugawara had just handed him a gun and told him to shoot his brother. What kind of family was this? “Tobio,” Daichi said, obviously trying to be less embarrassed than he already was.

“Who is this?” Tobio snapped back.

“Now would be nice,” Sugawara said before Daichi could answer. He gave Tobio a push toward the exit. “Well? Hurry up, and help me take care of your brother. I’m not delaying my best friend’s wedding for you.”

Tobio stared at him for a few more seconds, but at a loss of words, he made his escape. Sugawara sighed with relief. Mission successful. He turned back to the man next to him, who was staring at him as if he had just pulled off a miracle.

“Maybe next time you’ll think twice about going to a bachelor party organized by Nishinoya,” Sugawara told him with a snicker.

The look on Daichi’s face told him everything he needed to know. “I… I don’t have an excuse for that, honestly.”

“Nobody does, that’s why I decided to stay with the bride yesterday,” Sugawara admitted, and then his smile turned more genuine. “Don’t think too much about it, really! I’m sure Ennoshita’s happy you came, even if it is by the skin of your teeth.” Oh, that reminded him. “I’m on a different mission right now.”

“If you’re busy, I think I’m going to be fine,” Daichi told him, though still flustered from the sudden events. “You’ve already done enough to help. As long as the coffee doesn’t taste like it came out of a truck.”

“No promises,” Sugawara told him, hoping he was right. With one last wink, he waved and said, “I’ll hopefully see you around, but Yui first.”

“Hopefully,” Daichi echoed with the first smile Sugawara had seen him manage, and wow, was it stunning. It took all of Sugawara’s effort to turn and walk away.

 _Yui first_ , he told himself as soon as he turned the corner and fought the blood rushing to his face. _Yui first, Yui first, Yui first…_  

 

* * *

 

 

It worked. The wedding went off without a hitch, vows were made, Ennoshita cried, and they managed to safely escort everyone to the reception building without any major incident, so any destruction anyone had been waiting for could happen at the reception itself.

Sugawara was excited.

In all, very few people were actually worried about what chaos would happen at the wedding reception, Yui and Ennoshita were too drunk in each other to care about how drunk everyone else was getting, the speeches, as Sugawara had designed his own to be, were wonderfully horrible to both the bride and groom, and Yui promised there would be a piñata for the sake of not turning 30. That received a lot more positive attention than a room full of adults should have given.

And Sugawara nearly fell out of his seat when a revived Daichi stepped back onto stage with a bright and healthy face.

He looked amazing. His dulled eyes were a bright gold, accompanying the bright, kind glow of his grin. Sugawara couldn’t take his eyes off of him, from the shifting expressions on his face as he went through his speech, how he could go from friendly to sinister in a moment, to the bold air of confidence that filled the room as he spoke. It was exactly what Sugawara needed, and it was almost terrifying how well Daichi could pull it off.

Asahi might have noticed and given him the most pitiful expression. Sugawara hid his face behind the program instead.

Relaxation finally came in the form of dancing, albeit not the participation of it. It was something Sugawara had never found enjoyment in and wasn’t planning to for as long as he could avoid it.

Sugawara took one look at Yui’s face, looking as lovely as it could be in her joy, and sunk back in his chair with relief. The last few months had been the worst in more ways than one, so he allowed himself to relish in at least this. It was enough, even at the price of his own envy. Not to mention he would have to have an apartment all to himself now.

“You should dance with her, Suga,” Asahi told him from his designated seat, as the only one left at his table. His smile was anything but relaxed, but Sugawara could tell he was trying to help.

“Do you remember the last time I fake-danced with Yui?” Sugawara asked his other best friend, and Asahi grew pale. “You were better, you should steal her from her husband.”

“But you should still…”

“I have cake, go shove aside Ennoshita before we have to watch them leave for their honeymoon,” Sugawara teased, though Asahi wouldn’t ever do it that aggressively, no matter what his appearance said. He was like a big bear. A very fragile bear made of porcelain. “Or you could dance with someone else. Like Saeko, or your favroite…”

“S-Suga,” Asahi stammered. “I know from the look on your face who you’re going to suggest and please, please, please don’t.”

“Then go dance with Yui,” he told Asahi, who sighed, got up, and did just so. More politely and with less dramatics, as Asahi was. It was a beautiful sight.

“Hey.”

Well, it looked as if he wasn’t allowed to be alone with his feelings. But that thought immediately fled him the moment he turned in his seat and saw a familiar teenager.

“Tobio?” He said. “Oh, yeah, good job on getting your brother his coffee! He looked much—”

“I don’t know if you care but Daichi thinks you’re really hot,” Tobio told him in the most monotone, stone-cold voice he could muster, growled, and then crossed his arms, leaving Sugawara as terrified and confused as before.

“Wha… What?” Sugawara stammered.

“That’s—!” On cue, Daichi rushed into view and shoved Tobio out of Sugawara’s frame of vision, only to immediately be met with resistance. “That is _not true_ at all, _shut up Tobio_ ,” he said as he pushed back against his teenage brother.

“Well you weren’t going to talk to him! So I did!” Tobio snapped back angrily.

“Oh, why don’t you go back to asking bystanders if they know how to jump serve,” Daichi shot back, and Tobio took a step forward.

“You play volleyball?” Sugawara cut in, desperate to keep this from escalating any further.

It was like magic, it was almost scary. “ _Do you play?_ ” they both said, turning to Sugawara at once.

“What did you play as?” Tobio asked, getting right into his face. “ _Do_ you know how to jump serve? Daichi doesn’t and he’s the one who taught me how to play, how stupid is that?”

“You just don’t know when to shut up, do you?” Daichi warned, but Sugawara waved him aside.

“I was a setter.” Tobio’s eyes lit up like stars. Daichi looked as if he was doing his best not to do the same. “But no, I don’t know. I stopped in the middle of college, but I’ve been playing since high school. It’s something Yui, Asahi, and I have always been into since then.”

“You’re… You’re Sugawara-san then, aren’t you?” Daichi said, cutting off whatever Tobio was about to ask next, much to Sugawara’s surprise. “ _That_ Sugawara-san, you’re Michimiya’s best friend, well, I guess she would be Ennoshita now, but… I can’t believe I didn’t gather… Agh, dammit.”

“I don’t think you were in the best of conditions to be remembering who the bride’s best friend is anyway,” Sugawara scoffed. “But I would be Sugawara Koushi, that’s right. But some people call me Suga.”

“Sawamura Daichi,” Daichi introduced, and bumped shoulder with the teenager next to him, “and my brother, Tobio.”

“Sawamura Daichi,” Sugawara echoed. _Where had he heard that before?_ He hoped he didn’t sound too wistful. Luckily, the only one who noticed was Tobio, which turned out to not be such a lucky thing at all.

“Daichi, sit down,” Tobio said.

“No,” Daichi said back automatically.

In one sudden movement, Tobio shoved his older brother down into Asahi’s empty seat and rushed away before Daichi could recollect himself enough to get back at him. The whole event happened so fast that Sugawara could only watch as Daichi found himself properly seated before him.

“He’s gone,” Sugawara said, and watched as a stressed Daichi brushed his hair back. He looked even better up close, not just on stage, as he should have known already.

“I am so sorry about him,” Daichi said quickly. “It’s just the way he functions. He’s honestly not a bad kid, he just doesn’t think before he acts sometimes.” He paused. “All the time.”

“Daichi, I’m a teacher. And if you think that I could know someone like the people sitting in this room right now for years and be fazed by your brother, then I don’t think I’m the one who has to hear this right now.”

Daichi shook his head. “This shouldn’t be so hard for me. I run a restaurant, and I was captain of a volleyball team and they were full of teenagers, but that was…” He sighed. “It’s a lot weirder when it’s your own brother.”

“A restaurant?” Finally, it clicked. “Wait, you’re _that_ Sawamura! You’re Ennoshita’s boss, I thought you were— hmm…”

Daichi narrowed his eyes. “Thought I was what?”

 _A lot bigger, fearsome, more likely to rule over a kingdom than a household,_ but those were Ennoshita’s words and by Yui’s law he couldn’t use them. “Taller?”

“Wha— Just because I am shorter than my younger brother does not mean I can’t run my own restaurant!” Sugawara was too busy laughing at how badly Daichi was blushing to respond. “You’re enjoying this,” Daichi said.

Sugawara gave him a wobbly smirk that was anything but sorry. “Is it true that you think I’m attractive?”

“Well, it would be hard to say otherwise,” Daichi told him without an ounce of shame. Sugawara would be lying if he said it didn’t make him feel mushy inside. “The coffee really helped, even if it tasted like mud. But Tobio just likes to butt in where people start interfering with my life. I don’t think he thinks I’m doing a very good job of it myself.”

“You expect me to disagree with him after the display I saw earlier?” Sugawara asked, and Daichi made a dismissive sound.

“The restaurant is taking an off day today. I was up all night trying to get it ready,” Daichi told him defensively, and then proudly: “We’ve been doing so well lately. Has Ennoshita told you how far we’ve come? It’s like a miracle. Just taking one day off for personal reasons was almost against me, but Ennoshita’s been working with me since way back, I couldn’t just ditch the opportunity to speak at his wedding.”

“A true hero,” Sugawara told him, and at that, Daichi finally laughed. That smile came back, and it seemed to light up the whole room.

“He’s worked hard. I’m really proud of him,” Daichi said, glancing to the man in question fighting Asahi for his new wife. “I might have made him swear to make me the godfather for his and Yui’s first kid since I paid him throughout college.”

“Too late, I made Yui promise to make me godfather when we graduated high school,” Sugawara retorted. “You’re going to have to prove yourself if you want to take away that position from me.”

“If you thought that would scare me away, then you’re very wrong, Sugawara Koushi,” Daichi said with a smirk, eyes flashing. Sugawara swallowed. “For a teacher, you’re very mouthy.”

“It’s part of the charm,” Sugawara said.

“The charm that put you off from visiting my restaurant for the past few years while both of your best friends were frequenting it?” Daichi challenged, mock offense in his voice.

“Well I’m sorry I am neither a chef nor living on a veterinarian’s salary,” Sugawara scoffed, but Daichi only laughed it off.

“I was kidding. But you should eat there. I am promoting to everyone here,” Daichi said proudly. Which was true, it was part of his speech and he didn’t seem regretful of it in the slightest. “But to you especially, since you seem to be the best face out of everyone out here tonight. It’s not every day someone orders me and my brother around to life-saving coffee for a successful wedding. You’re pretty cool.”

If Sugawara weren’t trying his absolute best to be smooth, he probably would have done something incredibly stupid at Daichi’s grin and comments. Maybe fall out of his chair or say something idiotic like “thanks, you have the most wonderful eyes,” or something else about how Daichi seemed more and more like an actual god in front of him than anything. Like the strong lines of his face, or how well his suit fit on him.

“Yeah,” Sugawara said instead, absolutely sure his hands were sweating and doing his best to hide it. _Yeah._

And he swallowed back everything he wanted to say after that. Like if Daichi was available. If he wanted to go out sometime. What his favorite movie was or his preferred music, maybe if Sugawara had a chance, because it was scaring him to try. It curled at the put of his stomach and reached the blood rushing to his cheeks. It was so easy to care so quickly and too hard, because that just lead to…

At that moment, they were cut off by the convenient chime of Daichi’s phone. Sugawara, still holding his breath and trying to look as good as possible, waited as Daichi picks up and said, “My ex-girlfriend.”

Sugawara hid how big his sigh of relief was. “Girlfriend?”

Daichi, flustered, was quick to save himself. “Oh, sorry! I turned it off at the beginning of the wedding, but I needed to keep it on for work, you know, and—”

“Go answer it! I mean, I had a boyfriend who wasn’t friendly with me missing calls back when I was in college, and, you know…” He was getting nervous, he could feel it from how hot his neck was getting and the stutter in his tongue. Slip it in there, tell him it was alright, maybe see how he reacted to your sexuality, if…

Daichi, though, barely blinked. In fact, he didn’t react at all. He just gave his sunshine smile and said, “Thanks for everything, Suga,” and then left. Sugawara took in a long, extended breath and completely crumbled the moment Daichi was out of sight.

“Hey, Suga,” Tanaka’s voice came from over him, dead and gone on the table. “I dunno if I should be telling you this, but Yui said if you’re not gonna dance with her then she’ll take your entire stash of Firefly DVDs before she finishes moving out.”

Sugawara picked himself up quickly, and shook off his extra emotions. Tanaka, grinning, smacked Sugawara’s back hard.

“Knew you could do it, buddy! Come on, Noya wants to start the dance off soon and Ennoshita still doesn’t know. We can make it.”

“I hope I go home and remember absolutely nothing that happened tonight,” Sugawara told Tanaka in his most cheerful voice, and then skipped off to save his DVD collection. Yui was absolutely ecstatic.

He did end up remembering, but at that time, it was much better than actually acting on all of his dumb impulses. 

 

* * *

 

 

He almost ended up catching the bouquet, too, but Yui’s old volleyball teammates had different ideas about that and saved him from a horribly ironic fate.

 

* * *

 

In the next month, Sugawara did everything he could to throw everything he knew about his old life and replace it with his reinvented new life. He was able to keep all of his DVDs, thankfully, throughout Yui’s entire move, redesigned the apartment for one, tried to throw out everything and anything he could that reminded him of anything that wasn’t relevant anymore, and edited his teaching plans for the next year at least three times.

The changes for the past year had been anything but invalid, but he couldn’t dwell in them any deeper than he had been. His neighbors would laugh at him. That was never fun. So he just worked hard, kept his medicine cabinet tidy, and focused on the needs of 30 children.

And not one failed crush from a wedding. That, he was completely over with, and he was happy about it.

“See ya, Sugawara-sensei!” yelled a tiny voice as the last of the students passed him on his way out of the school. Sugawara waved back as they kicked over the new December snow and met their family at the gates. What terrible creatures to indulge his career in, he thought with an unavoidable smile.

It was a pretty simple day, and those were getting more and more frequent. It was such progress, what a great way to end that year. And just as he was heading out of the gate himself, all of that changed.

“Hey!”

“What!?” Sugawara jumped and stumbled back, and for a minute, he didn’t recognize the boy at the gates. But a second look at those sharp eyes and stiff stance, and it all came rushing back like a forgotten dream. “Wha… Tobio? Sawamura Tobio? What are you doing here?”

Tobio opened his mouth to reply, but stopped short. He buried himself into his big scarf and prim Karasuno gakuran instead, thinking hard and avoiding Sugawara’s eyes. Sugawara, confused, moved to meet his wandering gaze.

“Um… did you need something from me?” he asked helpfully, catching Tobio off-guard.

“I…! Ergh… Not this again…” Tobio grumbled something incomprehensible, and finally, met Sugawara’s eyes straight-on. Unlike every other look he had received from Tobio, this one was pure honesty. “Are you free? I want to talk to you.”

And Sugawara, faced with a troubled teenager and a lifetime of terrible fate, completely forgot about his vow to normalize his life into the next year and the completely influential man he had met at the wedding just a month ago, and said, “Yes, of course.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (sweats nervously) H-Hey! Good to see you again with a slice-of-life DaiSuga multichapter fic. This was not meant to happen. This was meant to be a oneshot. Ah. Yes. My Siblings-Daichi-and-Kageyama fic is alive. 
> 
> Except barely halfway through this oneshot became a part one and now my dream fic has become a multichapter. I'm planning it to be about 4-5 chapters long, actually! So a bitty multi. I actually made a prompt for this fic on my tumblr a while back but I got to talking about it and suddenly it turned up on word document and I was so screwed. This is all your fault niki. When you see this, you'll see. To make a point of it I'm gifting it to you.
> 
> Title is from Natalie Cole's This Will Be (An Everlasting Love). If you haven't seen While You Were Sleeping, do it now. I looped this song so many times while writing this thing and thought of it's movie of origin. 
> 
> Comments and kudos are much appreciated!
> 
> EDIT (9/2015): wow


	2. ain't no mountain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Sugawara has empty nest syndrome and Tobio really, really likes volleyball.

Sugawara felt pretty bad. For everything that he knew about Tobio from the wedding, “Can you practice with me?” was not the first request that had come to mind. It really should have been, though.

It was sub-zero degrees out and the ground was as hard as rock, but the hopeful look on Tobio’s face practically dragged Sugawara off to follow him. Teaching at an elementary school should have made him stronger than that.

The ended up in a playground just a ways away from the school, and Sugawara found out very quickly what exactly Tobio was. Daichi said he had been at least trying to play since he was in elementary school. He never said anything about how _good_ this kid was.

“H-How many years have you been playing?” Sugawara asked, and Tobio gave him a questioning look.

“Eleven years.”

“God,” Sugawara replied. “Okay, I don’t think we need to work on your tosses much more. How good are you at receives?”

Sugawara found a steady tempo helping Tobio out with his receives, which, for once, he was not as natural at as he was with setting. Sugawara still felt amazed that a fifteen year old had so much skill. “Obsession” was nothing, this kid was a genius.

“Tobio,” Sugawara began, sending over another serve Tobio’s way. “Is there a reason you came to find me? How did you know where I worked?”

“Yui-san told me,” he said, diving for the receive just a little better than before. “Just yesterday.”

Oh, yeah, he forgot. Yui’s new husband worked in his guy’s brother’s restaurant. Maybe he was just trying too hard to forget the brother. “I see,” Sugawara replied, and caught the returning volleyball. “That was good! You should have bent your knees a little more on that last one. You're pretty tense.”

“Right!” Tobio replied with unrestrained seriousness, walking back to his place. He looked so excited and much more like his age when he was eager for something. Oh, this was so hard, but there was no way Sugawara was Tobio’s only go-to for a volleyball partner considering all the people they mutually knew.

“Actually," Sugawara interrupted, "why don’t we take a break for right now?” Sugawara’s heart broke at the look of disappointment that cracked onto Tobio’s face. “J-Just for a couple minutes! We really should talk about why you’re here.”

“Fine,” Tobio said.

Sugawara sighed in relief. “Let’s sit down.”

They dusted off the snow off the swingset and took their places, mostly by Sugawara’s decision. Tobio seemed like the person who could think better if he was moving, and the momentum would definitely help.

Talking to Tobio so far was… an experience. He didn’t say a word until they got to the park, and more or less lead Sugawara down to the playground himself, as if it were where they were supposed to be all along. But once he took the volleyball out and tossed it over to Suga, that all changed. Sugawara actually enjoyed the genuine effort he put into taking out all of Sugawara’s tosses.

Hardworking students filled him with joy and turned him into an utter useless pile of mush. He made no complaints.

“So,” Sugawara began, watching Tobio swing lightly, lost in thought. “What brings you here?”

Tobio was silent for a moment. “Well, Daichi’s been too busy to practice with me and my coach keeps refusing to teach me.”

“He… doesn’t want to teach you? Your coach?” Sugawara said. Tobio was wearing a Karasuno High uniform, and Suga had heard all about how they got that former national player to finally coach them. “Is he doing his job right?”

“He taught me how to serve in the first semester, but now he’s just angry at me,” Tobio replied, grumbling. “He’s not a bad coach. It’s just that everyone else just sucks.”

“That’s a bad attitude to have for a setter,” Sugawara commented, but Tobio reacted so fast and suddenly that he nearly swallowed his words back right up.

“So what?” Tobio snapped, his eyes narrowed dangerously. “They’re all so slow! If they can’t keep up with my tosses then they should get back to training.” He stopped swinging for that moment, and his expression tightened as if repressing a bad thought. It disappeared just a second later, leaving Sugawara to think that he just imagined it.

Sugawara felt like a he was treading dangerous waters here, especially for someone who barely knew Tobio for a total of over two hours. He didn’t get along with his team? Well, that was for sure, but from what Sugawara remembered from high school, communication was a major part of any play and Tobio seemed to be very, very bad at that.

“Noya’s, the guy who told you about me, he’s good to practice your serves with,” Sugawara suggested in an attempt to change the subject. “Ennoshita knows him pretty well! He was a pretty big deal back when he was playing college volleyball.”

“…He didn’t mention that. Is he a libero?” Tobio asked. “He’s so short.”

“Ah, that was probably he wasn’t feeling very well at the time.” _This boy is so blunt_ , Sugawara thought. “He is, but don’t tell him you said that if you want him to train with you.”

“Why?” Tobio asked, and he looked so serious about it, too. Sugawara felt his heart clench.

“It’s just best if you don’t,” Sugawara replied, as simply as possible.

“Hm.” Tobio swung a bit on the swingset some more. Sugawara felt the conversation slip away, and they sat together in a surprisingly comfortable silence.

Sugawara soon began to notice how long it had been since he had spent some quality time with someone other than Yui, her husband, or even his next door neighbor outside of work ever since the wedding. Ever since the funeral for that matter. He seemed to have fully convinced his coworkers that he was completely okay working now, thank you very much. Though with the wedding over and Christmas break approaching, Sugawara was having difficulty making plans.

Tobio was unexpected. Sugawara expected a lot more than practicing volleyball and talking about volleyball, but he found it hard to be surprised.

Secretly, Sugawara admired Tobio’s dedication. Despite his poor interpersonal skills, he always had something to do, a goal in mind, and that faded from Sugawara’s life now that he had reached adulthood. Daichi had raised him well.

The memory of a bright smile and a taken phone call flashed through his head. He groaned and kicked the icy ground, swinging him backwards. Daichi wasn’t here.  He didn’t have to think about Daichi at all. Just Tobio.

Tobio looked over at him, curious. Sugawara returned it with weary smile.

Tobio stopped swinging and turned to him, and for a moment, Sugawara was afraid he was going to ask him about his feelings.

“Hey, um…” Tobio bit his lip. “Are you free tomorrow too?”

“Huh?” Sugawara sat there stunned for a moment, blinking. “Tomorrow’s Friday, so I’m tutoring kids until six, actually, so it’ll be a little late.”

“That’s fine,” Tobio replied. “I’m usually practicing pretty late anyway.”

 _Just how late?_ Sugawara thought, because he could imagine Tobio including the gym until eight if the school would even let him. He'd probably find a wall to battle against if he didn't have anyone to help him. An obligation rose in him to get Tobio out of that situation as soon as possible, and six seemed to be the perfect time.

Still, Sugawara had to think about how unusual it was for a teenager to run off to the workplace of some guy he only knew from like five minutes at a wedding. There was something suspicious going on around here and Tobio did not seem like he wanted to share.

That was probably something Sugawara would have to earn.

“My door’s always open, if you need someone to keep you company,” Sugawara said at last, and got up off of his swing. “If you want to practice, or if you need someone to talk to.”

Despite the implication, Sugawara knew what the real magic word there was. Tobio’s eyes brightened with excitement, and he stood up quickly. “Yes, sir!”

“Just make sure you start working on talking to people, Tobio. I think you’ll find that it’s a lot easier to work with people once you know what to say.” Sugawara gave the teenager a calculating look. “That’s my first piece of advice.”

“Um… I… sure,” Tobio replied, looking mildly confused, but also thoughtful. They could work on that.

Sugawara groaned to himself. He hated how he was starting to think that he was going to spend a lot more time than he could with this kid. _Don’t get attached, Sugawara._

“I have to go now,” Sugawara told Tobio, and grabbed his work bag. He slung it over his shoulder and turned to wave his afternoon companion goodbye, but then stopped. He swallowed and felt a wave of awkwardness wash over him as his next words spilled out of his mouth. “I’ll… um… t-tell Daichi I said hi!”

Tobio stared at him for a moment. “Right, I will… um… Sugawara-san?”

Sugawara felt a laugh escape him at Tobio’s genuine confusion. These brothers were all the same. “Yeah. Sugawara Koushi.”

“I’m… Sawamura Tobio. First year.” Tobio’s face pinched slightly, but stood up straight and looked Sugawara straight in the eye. “…Thanks.”

Well, it was a start.

 

* * *

 

 

Sugawara’s evening went on just like any other after that. Then his solo dinner ended, and for once since the wedding, he was left with no chores, no work, and no Yui to take care of for the rest of the night. Suddenly, he felt in the need for an activity he hadn’t done since Yui left the nest. Grabbing a bundle of extra blankets, he threw them over the couch and got to work.

Much later, a knock came at the door. Sugawara checked the clock to see that it was nearly midnight. Whoa.

Tearing his eyes off of the television, Sugawara untangled himself from his cocoon of comforters and dragged himself to the front door. He let out a great yawn before opening the door to his bleary-eyed neighbor shivering on his doormat.

“Fuckin hell, Sugawara, I know you’re trying to let the entire neighborhood know about your weird horror-movie fetish but if you don’t turn your TV’s volume down to zero right now I’ll make your _life_ a horror movie.”

“Huh?” Sugawara shook his head, and then realized Kuroo was not whispering. Wow, he didn’t realize how hard it was to hear people talk at normal volumes. “Oh! I’m sorry, I didn’t realize it had gotten that loud.”

Kuroo Tetsurou was at his door now. Complaining. Sugawara began to worry.

“Listen, I like you, Sugawara.” Kuroo began, “You’re a good neighbor. You drag me out of the lobby whenever I’m too drunk to climb the stairs, you buy me dinner when I’m too broke to, and you helped me repaint my living room like a year ago. You are one of the few people who I respect and I am saying that you need to stop sitting around with your weird movies and go. Out. Really. I let you do this four months ago and I let you do this when your roommate moved out. Not this time.” Kuroo pointed to the bags under his eyes, his hair a complete mess, and his clothes rumpled and a complete disaster. “Do you see this?”

“You… not really,” Sugawara replied, blinking his eyes wearily. Honestly, the only time he couldn’t recognize his neighbor was that one time he met Sugawara in the halls on a day with sudden downpour and Sugawara nearly freaked out because some scary tall person with stringy flat hair was breaking into Kuroo’s apartment.

“Aha, aha ha ha ha.” Kuroo groaned and rubbed his eyes. “I’m tired of listening to the poorly-acted screams of teenage girls. Let me sleep.”

“Sorry,” Sugawara replied, scratching his neck nervously. This was embarrassing. The fact that Kuroo Tetsurou was at his door right now and scolding him was downright embarrassing. Mainly because the entire situation screamed _oh, ho, Sugawara, how the tables have turned!_ “I-I probably shouldn’t be up this late anyway. I have work tomorrow and—”

“Yeah, yeah, don’t hurt yourself.” Kuroo rubbed his arms and shuddered.

Sugawara looked over Kuroo’s shoulder and frowned. “Um, Kuroo, I know you’re worried about me, but why did you come out here in just your pajamas when it’s snowing?”

“Snowing? It’s not…” Kuroo turned around and sure enough, a light snow began to gather on the streets. “Oh, oh that’s great. Yeah, nobody wake me up tomorrow, I’m taking a day off.”

“Don’t do that,” Sugawara scolded him.

“Yeah, and I just gave you a truly encouraging “get yourself together” speech, so I have a free pass on not listening to you for once. Good. Night.” Kuroo gave a curt wave goodbye and shuffled back to his apartment, only to stop midway and turn back to Sugawara. “Oh, and one more thing.”

“Uh…” _Please don’t let it be another blind date announcement. Please don’t tell me he tried to do this to me again._ “Yes?”

Kuroo’s pointed expression softened into a smile. “Not sure if you even consider me a buddy of yours, but feel free to stop by if you need to complain about life for an hour or two. I know you've had it rough the past couple of months. I guess I owe you, anyway.” He then disappeared into his apartment, ending the conversation with the simple slam of the door.

Sugawara looked back at the faint light of the television in his living room and then back out at the snowy scenery, feeling a dreaded sense of déjà vu.

 

* * *

 

 

“Sugawara-sensei.” Sugawara snapped out of his thoughts at the feeling of something hitting his face. “Sugawara-sensei it’s time to goooo.”

Suga glanced at the clock. Was it six already? Really? “O… Oh! Sorry about that. Have you all finished your worksheets?”

A varied chorus of cheers and whines replied from the circle of children. They swarmed over to him, filling his hands with finished math worksheets to canvases of five-legged dragons, and then scrambled out of the door with a delighted screech. Sugawara turned through the papers, feeling disappointed in himself for staying up so late last night drowning his sorrows away by binge watching movies. Again. He needed to be more awake to watch these kids properly.

He also had practice with Tobio today. He had the feeling that if he wasn’t at his best for this kid then he would be severely disappointed in him as well. Damn Kuroo had to be right.

He packed away the student’s work and made his way out of Karasuno Elementary. He wondered if Tobio really told Daichi hello for him. He wondered if Daichi even remembered him. _Sugawara? Who’s that? Why are you hanging out with someone nearly twice your age Tobio? Let me meet this_ “Sugawara” _guy and beat him to the ground with my award-winning muscles Tobio and then we’ll show him who you can practice with._

Okay, maybe not that last one, but Sugawara nearly ran into the door trying to exit the school once the thought came up. What if Daichi came today?

He inched out of the doors, peeking out into the schoolyard curiously. No Daichi. No Tobio either. Sugawara checked his watch, where the hands pointed out to a bent 6:04.

Sugawara made a dissatisfied noise and began his way to the front gates. Did he forget? He didn’t seem like the type. Maybe his former-national-team coach finally got his act together and got to teaching Tobio. Wouldn’t he have fun then?

(Or, it could be because there was two inches of snow on the ground, but Sugawara wasn’t sure that would stop him.)

It made Sugawara feel a lot more dispirited than he thought.

“Ah!”

For the second time that week, Sugawara nearly jumped out of his skin at a sudden appearance. However, this was not the appearance of tall and scary teenage boy. No, this one was much smaller.

He looked a lot bigger than his kids, but Sugawara didn’t think he’s seen this boy anywhere before. That was strange; it was rare to see kids with freckles around here, so if he had seen him before, he should have known him. And why was he carrying three bags?

“Oh, um, I know I shouldn’t be here… um… they just forgot…”

Sugawara didn’t like the look of this. This boy was shaking and he was absolutely sure that it wasn’t from the cold.

“Do you go here?” he asked, bending down to meet the boy’s watering eyes. Quickly wiping the tears away, the boy nodded and held up five fingers. “Fifth grade, huh? I teach fourth grade, so don’t worry, you’re not in trouble. I’m afraid I can’t let you in, though, if that’s what you want. The gates will be closing really soon.”

The boy looked slightly more relieved at that, but hid behind his ragged scarf and messy curtain of brown hair. “S-Sorry. I just… They forgot to take their bags back and I…”

There was nothing about this entire situation that Sugawara liked. “You’re not carrying that much stuff for yourself, are you?” Sugawara asked lightly, and the boy began to waver.

“S-Sure I am! I-I mean, no, I…” He bit his lips. Adjusting the straps on his right shoulder. They looked too big to be for a fifth grader. A sixth grader, maybe? Sugawara narrowed his eyes. Or two. “A-Are you angry at me?”

“What? Of course not! But you shouldn’t be carrying that much stuff, you’re going to have a bad back when you’re older,” Sugawara told him seriously. “Just one is all you need. You shouldn’t let anyone tell you that you can carry more. You look like you could use some of that strength for yourself instead of other people’s laziness.”

“Oh, but I…” He glanced at his two extra bags, a guilty look in his eyes. “I feel better if I can… help them. I’m good at that.”

“Do you enjoy it?”

There was a pause. Hesitantly, the boy shook his head just the slightest. “I… I mean I…”

Sugawara frowned in disapproval, but then looked down at the little fifth grader and put on a reassuring smile. “Hey, what’s your name?”

“Um… Yamaguchi T-Tadashi.”

“Well, Yamaguchi-kun, you know the Christmas party is next week? My friend is helping me set up for the one for my class, so why don’t you help us after school instead? She’s in dire need someone who can give her some better help with the decorations. You can tell those kids you’ve got more important things to do.”

Yamaguchi’s face brightened in an instant. “R-Really?” He blushed. “T-That’s… Can I?”

“Well, you have to ask your mom first, but I’m sure Yui would love to have you around! Just tell your mom that Sugawara-sensei needs some help with the Christmas events and that he thinks you’re a going to give it your best effort, alright? Tell anyone who gives you trouble about it to talk to me.”

“Is… Is that really okay? Can I…?” Yamaguchi’s eyes shone up at Sugawara.

“Just come by 4-B Monday after school and you can start then,” Sugawara said.

Yamaguchi stood up straight and nodded quickly, but the weight of the bags caught him halfway and sent him backwards into the snow. Sugawara bit back the laughter that threatened to escape him at Yamaguchi’s distress. This was not the most appropriate situation to laugh at all, but the kid looked much more confident and energized now that the fumble was kind of adorable. It distracted him from the rushing sound of footsteps that approached him from behind.

“Sugawara-san!”

Yamaguchi yelped at the same time Sugawara shot up straight to his feet when he heard the voice. Tobio came to a stop in front of him, breathing heavy from his run. Luckily (or unluckily) after a quick survey of the surround area, it did not seem as if Daichi had come with him. Sugawara felt himself relax, but couldn’t help but be disappointed.

“Sorry, I had some trouble after practice today,” he said, a little vague for Sugawara’s liking.

Tobio then noticed the child next to Sugawara, and raised an eyebrow with a strained expression that must have been thoughtful, even though it looked ten times more intimidating. _Not that face_ , Sugawara thought. _No, not that face._

“Who’s this?” Tobio asked.

“I-I’m going now!” Yamaguchi stammered, and bolted off before Sugawara could even tell him goodbye. Tobio looked even more confused than before, even a little upset.

Tobio scowled, and Sugawara could have sworn that was hurt in his expression. “What… What did I do? All I asked was who he was! What’s with people and thinking I’m scary?” Not that that didn’t make Sugawara feel completely guilty. “Talking to people shouldn’t be that hard…”

“Why don’t we talk about this after some serves?” Sugawara suggest, taking a peek at Tobio’s volleyball bag, and then back to his face.

Ah, there’s the look he wanted.

 

* * *

 

 

“Who was that kid?” Tobio asked after stretching for a little bit. He looked pretty serious about it too, as if something about ‘that kid’ was bothering him.

“Ah, a new friend of mine,” Sugawara replied, spinning the volleyball in his hands to get himself prepared. He kicked at the ground again, thoughtful. They had cleared away most of the snow, but ground was still kind of icy. Luckily, it was getting a little warmer. He turned back to Tobio. “His name’s Yamaguchi, a fifth grader I met before you showed up. He’s going to help Yui and I with some events for next week.”

“Is that so,” Tobio replied, but still looked pretty pensive. “What did he need?”

“Nothing he initially asked for. It was a chance encounter, but he was having some trouble with some older kids.” Sugawara shook his head. “I mean, I tended to make friends easily. I had some trouble with some kids in my old high school for being gay, but I always felt safer with Yui and Asahi around. I thought he might feel better feeling as if he had someone looking out for him.”

“Hm,” Tobio replied, giving Sugawara an unreadable glance. Something still appeared to be on his mind, but he made his way to his place across from Sugawara without a word. “Let’s play.”

Sugawara would have questioned it further; Tobio usually had something important to say when he was thinking like that, but once his companion out into position, it was hard to interrupt.

Once practice started, the talking stopped save for an occasional pieces of advice Sugawara threw over. Tobio took every move and every word Sugawara said and absorbed all of it, though it did take him a few tries to get it all right. Still, Sugawara couldn’t help but enjoy practicing with such a dedicated student. It never ceased to make his heart soar after a day of rambunctious fourth graders. Not that he didn’t love them.

Still, the soft sound of the exchanges reached a rhythm that got Suga’s mind working and worse, thinking.

For one, he still could not fully comprehend his current situation. He’s been living alone for the past month that’s given him one less roommate to take care of and a slightly higher rent to manage, a sudden emptiness in his life that he would not be able to fill with the stress of looking after twenty six fourth graders all day, Kuroo Tetsurou having to remind him not to waste himself away watching the pain of fictional movie characters all night, and a teenager who apparently wanted him for personal volleyball practice sessions.

Some of these things were a lot sadder than others. Sugawara best he deal with the least sad one right now.

Which was probably the fact that Tobio looked a lot more irritated than he did yesterday. As much enthusiasm he took in taking Sugawara’s serves, there were times he would just pick up the volleyball and glare at it. When they got to practicing Tobio’s own serves, the look on his face didn’t look childishly excited like the day before, but deathly terrifying. Sugawara knew what Tobio’s serves were like. He didn’t want the demonized version.

“Okay! We should take a break!” Sugawara stood up as soon as Tobio looked reading to take Sugawara’s head off with that next serve. Tobio seemed to snap back into reality (the fact that he actually left in the first place was something they really had to talk about), and lowered the volleyball with a look of frustration.

“I just got started!” Tobio replied, scowling and nope, no, Sugawara was not going to be fooled by that look anymore.

“Y-Yeah, well I don’t think I’m up for being target practice because that looks a lot like what you’re going to make this!” Sugawara told him, and Tobio actually flinched at that, realizing his mistake. Oh, thank god he got through to this boy.

The swings were clean this time, some kids must have been here before them, so they took their respective places easily. Tobio wasn’t swinging as much as usual, and seemed to brood a lot more than fidget. In the twenty-four hours Sugawara came to understand this boy again, he was already sure that a brooding Tobio was never a good one.

“You seem tense,” Sugawara said, and Tobio frowned harder. “What’s up?”

“…” Tobio kicked himself up a little bit, swinging lightly. “…Yesterday you said I should try and learn how to talk to people, remember?”

“Well, if you really want to improve yourself, that’s what I suggested,” Sugawara replied. “You’re not exactly… the best at people.”

Tobio pouted, turning away. “Is that why that kid ran away?”

That was still bothering him? “I wouldn’t say you’re the best at first impressions, either,” Sugawara told him honestly, laughing nervously. “When I first met you I barely thought I would live to see the wedding.”

“That was because Daichi had been an idiot trying to keep up with the restaurant this week and got like an hour of sleep in his office again!" Tobio snapped, catching Suga off-guard. He stopped his swinging and folded his arms. "I practically had to drag him to the wedding. If your friend hadn’t called panicking that Daichi hadn’t shown up I would have just left him at home. His girlfriend broke up with him like three days before the wedding. I’m not complaining, she wasn’t as bad as his college girlfriends, but she kept forcing Daichi and me on these weird diets and we never got to eating anything good.”

Well, Tobio complaining about his perfect brother’s girlfriends wasn’t too bad. Said perfect brother’s girlfriends in general was a whole different matter completely and Sugawara wasn’t sure he was up for talking about them. At all. Tobio didn’t look like he was done complaining about his brother, though.

“Did something happen with Daichi? Is that why you’re so riled up today?” Sugawara asked, and the subject seemed to grab Tobio’s attention pretty nicely.

“I…” Tobio’s dialogue faded drastically, and he fell silent for a couple moments. “…No, Daichi’s been doing a little better. He’s getting a decent amount of sleep.” Tobio bit his lip. “I tried talking to someone at school today.”

“You mean, like, approach them?” Sugawara asked. Is it because of what he said yesterday? Honestly, he wasn’t sure how Tobio would interpret his advice. “Like one of your friends?”

Tobio gave him a questioning look, one that gave Sugawara the feeling about how many friends Tobio had exactly. Whenever they met, it was usually about his brother, volleyball, or his brother and volleyball. Sugawara really didn’t know as much about this boy as he thought he did.

“We’re not friends,” Tobio finally answered, albeit hesitantly. He scowled. “We’re not even in the same year.”

“Really?” That was interesting. “Why did you want to talk to him?”

Tobio took another moment of silence, but this time, his expression softened, into something more thoughtful than angry. “He helped me out once. When I needed it. I thought maybe I could say thanks or something. He’s my sempai on the volleyball team, so I guess it was pretty easy to find a time to talk to him.”

“Does this sempai have a name?” Sugawara asked, curious.

“…Hinata,” Tobio said simply. “He’s a head shorter than me, but he’s one of our middle blockers. He’s not as bad as everyone else, actually. I mean, he loves the game and he’s played some amazing jumps. I don’t set for the regular team because they already have another guy, but sometimes I practice with him and fill in some matches. He’s the only one who can hit my tosses straight on.”

 _Aw,_ Sugawara thought, feeling his chest tighten. _Tobio does have a friend! Maybe he just doesn’t—_

“But he’s a _moron_ ,” Tobio continued, his soft expression suddenly turning hard and a growl escaping through his clenched teeth. Sugawara’s friendly image shattered instantly. “He’s not getting any proper training even though he has so much potential, he’s overly excited and it messes with his plays, he’s got this habit of throwing up before we have a big game even though he’s been with the team for two years, he has way too many emotions to deal with, and he always jumps to conclusions!”

“R-Really?” Sugawara said. Tobio looked as if was going to hop up and run all the way across town to find this kid and repeat all of that to his face. “But he helped you out once, right?”

“Hrm,” Tobio mumbled, nodding in confirmation. “Just something weird on a bad day. I doubt he remembers it, it was while ago. But still.”

“It was important, wasn’t it?” Sugawara said.

Tobio didn’t reply to that. He put on a pinched expression instead and didn’t meet Suga’s eyes. “He won’t talk to me when I approach him.”

“What?” Oh man.

“I mean he’s always screaming something weird running off every time I try and get him to talk to me!” Tobio shouted, and shot up from his place on the swing. “Or some other guy is always getting in the way and telling me that he’s _busy_ or something stupid. It’s like he can’t spare two seconds to talk to me.”

Now that was strange, Sugawara thought. Then again, his first, second, and third impressions of Sawamura Tobio were all absolutely horrendous and ended up with his heart nearly stopping on all three accords. “What did you do when you tried to talk to him today?”

“I tried smiling.” Tried. Well, this was story was making a great start. “I mean, that’s what worked when you helped Daichi, right? I haven’t seen my brother get so comfortable with someone that quickly before. I thought it would help, but that idiot freaked out and ran for the locker rooms. Who does that? It’s like he’s not even part of this society!”

 _Tobio, I hate to break it to you, but you’re also considered very abnormal in this society_. Judging by how he described Hinata’s reaction, Sugawara could only visualize how Tobio’s “smile” really was.

“…I think you’ve just got to practice it.” Tobio’s perked up at the magic word. Yeah. There we go! That was speaking his language! “And try to calm down when you talk to him! It sounds like you’re having a lot of trouble thinking clearly about this guy. Have you tried complimenting him?”

“Yes.” Oh, wait, he did? “He didn’t believe me.”

Oh, this poor boy.

“Why not looking for him some other time other than practice?” Sugawara suggested. “Then he’ll know it’s not all because of the club. Or you could just tell him how you actually feel. All of that stuff you said before “but he’s a moron” would be a good place to start!”

“I’m not… I’m not good at…”

Sugawara got up from his place on the swing, and picked up the abandoned volleyball, spinning it around in his hands. “Just use your head, that’s what you do when you play, right?” He gave a sharp pass to Tobio, who caught the ball without much effort, as if it were natural. “Stop thinking of it as a mission, think about what makes him comfortable and then just talk about that. I mean, it’s not like you’re confessing to him or anything.”

Tobio’s eyes widened, and he stared at Sugawara with a stunned expression. Sugawara, quickly realizing his mistake, jumped.

“O-Oh! I didn’t mean to imply anything! I mean, you’re just trying to talk to him, and that doesn’t just mean you—”

“Hey, Sugawara-san?” Tobio interrupted him, but stared down at the volleyball in his hands.

“Y-Yeah?” Sugawara tried to calm his racing heart.

“What was that thing those guys gave you trouble for back in high school for again?”

 _What?_ “You mean that I’m… If you don’t feel comfortable with that then—”

“Do you like my brother?” Tobio asked again quickly, lifting his head to look him straight in the eye. He looked serious. _Shit_.

“Daichi? Who? I mean, I know Daichi. Yes. I mean yes, I know Daichi! We got pretty acquainted at the wedding and he’s…” Sugawara groaned. “Why?”

Tobio’s jaw tightened and he squeezed the volleyball, tense. “He seems to like you. I mean, you’re good to him, and I thought… How do you—”

In that fraction of a second, Sugawara just remembered the first he ever heard from Tobio was nothing about volleyball but “ _Daichi thinks you’re hot_.” Why Tobio would have known this, Sugawara still didn’t know. Why Tobio _said_ this to him, Sugawara still did not know. But the pieces were fitting together and—

“Tobio! Where the hell have you been!?”

The fraction of a second ended too soon.

Tobio actually dropped his volleyball in shock, turning around to the playground entrance where one Sawamura Daichi (oh _holy_ god) was standing dressed in hurried casual and panting as if he had just run a marathon. The same dark hair, as messy as it was when they first met, and anger laced into his hard features.

It was the first time Suga had seen him in over a month, but the events that took place that the wedding came rushing back so quickly it seemed as if it were only yesterday, varying from downright beautiful to utterly embarrassing.

Most of them were the latter.

“Fuck off, Daichi! I told you I was going to be practicing!” _Oh god, he was right. Tobio hadn’t told Daichi. Sugawara was now probably classified that twenty-seven year old predator that preyed on young volleyball geniuses in he was so fucked so fucked_

“It’s _eight_ in the evening.” _It was_ that _late!?_ “I told you the last time this happened that I would come looking for you, you…”

Daichi trailed off the moment he found eye contact with Sugawara, and Tobio quickly stepped back. Whether he was trying to give them room or avoiding Daichi, Sugawara was now short of one less wall to hide behind and in the complete range of Daichi’s shocked gaze.

_Hi! Your brother came to my workplace just yesterday and what do you know, it was for volleyball! Apparently. He may be having some difficult social issues that may or may not involve me but I am deeply sorry because he should have told you that I—_

“S-Suga?”

And they meet again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Suga likes to binge watch a new movie genre every time he gets really emotional about his life and this time it was horror because he couldn't deal with any stupid romances or angst trips. Then he puts it on some abnormally high volume to down out his sorrows. You could say it's blast.
> 
> So I've been sick for like a week and I've been trying to write so much fic and here have another chapter of this monster it's like over 10K now and we're not even halfway through this is not going to be three chapters this is not going to be five chapters well helLO. Also sempai!Hinata is my other dream. melts in this au.
> 
> Prayer circle it's time to protect Yamaguchi Tadashi at all costs.
> 
> Also time for feedback, THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR YOUR SUPPORT it's been like a day but I shed tears in your name.


	3. why don't you come on over

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which nobody lets Sugawara be left alone with his feelings.

“I will ground you, I swear to god; you are testing my last nerve here, Tobio.”

“You want to go? Fine, talk to me when you’re awake enough to catch up to me next time.”

“Just go inside!”

Tobio stomped past Daichi defiantly, leave his brother fuming and Sugawara having the worst case third-wheel-ism since Yui and Ennoshita unknowingly fell in love in their third year of college and his best friend kept on dragging him on their “outings” since she didn’t want things to seem awkward. Except this time there was a lot less flirting and a lot more yelling, and no one was accidentally leaving him at the movie theatre.

Sugawara’s train of thought crashed back into reality at the sound of Daichi slamming the door shut. His old acquaintance sighed, and knocked his head onto the wood surface. “I am so sorry.”

Sugawara seemed to be getting that a lot lately, but each time it seemed harder and harder to be mad the apologizer. Now especially. Now, when he was standing in the narrow walkway to the Sawamura household, staring at it as if he, an eternal apartment-dweller, had never seen a house before. (Which was impossible after so many weeks of helping the Ennoshitas move into their new one after they came back from their honeymoon. Not that that helped much.)

Though, Sugawara could ignore that part. Right now he was alone with his maybe-crush of maybe-a-month who just caught him in the act of practicing volleyball and teaching important life lessons to his younger brother, apparently knowing nothing about it. _Why, Tobio, why._

Not to mention that he was supposed to be over said crush, but put Sawamura Daichi in the middle of all of that and he may as well start over again.

“You really didn’t have to come all this way,” Daichi said, turning back over to Sugawara. “It’s already pretty late out. You really don’t want to be sticking around this place, it’s a complete mess.” He wasn’t really sure if Daichi meant that any more than literally, but something was off the way he said it.

Either way, he was right. The winter night had arrived a while ago, and only the porch light and few stray street lamps lit the scene. Sugawara hadn’t known how much freezing he was until Daichi mentioned it.

Despite such, he waved the suggestion aside. “Well, it’s not like I don’t enjoy being with you guys. It’s not like Tobio was forcing me to practice with him,” Sugawara replied, offering a smile.

“Are you sure?” Daichi asked, his eyes narrowed with suspicion.

Sugawara held his hands up. “I made no complaints. Your brother’s an excellent player. He  said he needed some advice, but I think I actually needed someone to talk to, really.”

Honestly, Sugawara would have probably sprinted out of that playground and hid under his bed for about a week if it hadn’t been for Tobio giving him one of those _you HAVE to come with us or he’ll kill me save me_ looks. The look on Daichi’s face, after he finally got over the shock of meeting Sugawara again and finally remembered Tobio was there, enough to convince him. The entire trip back to their house had been entirely filled with brotherly bickering with Suga occasionally distracting them before things got really bad. He would have been a lot more on his game if he wasn’t still recovering from the initial Daichi-shock. Luckily, everyone survived the ordeal.

“Oh, really?” Daichi’s expression softened a bit at that, walking down the porch steps to where Suga stood at its foot. Sugawara felt his breath hitch when he was finally looking at Daichi face-to-face for the first time in a month. “I was getting suspicious when he was acting strange after he came home yesterday, assuming that was you as well. Don’t tell me you told him to smile?”

“No!” Which, of course, did sound strange out of context. Why tell a boy with interpersonal problems not to smile? But this was Tobio they were talking about, so. “No, I…  I might have suggested that he needed to work on talking to people if he wanted to work better with others. I didn’t know what he would do with it.”

Daichi chuckled, pulling his dark coat around closer. “You’d be surprised how he works. I’m just glad it was you and not some gang member he met in front of a convenience store.”

Sugawara laughed, but something told him that that that worry spoke from legitimate experience in Daichi’s book. “Surprise.”

“But I… I didn’t think I’d be seeing you anytime soon,” Daichi admitted, seeming... bashful? “I was surprised that you lived in the area! Ennoshita’s wife has been coming around by the restaurant a lot more, actually. She complains that you keep turning down her dinner invites to go home and brood with your ‘dumb paperwork.’”

Sugawara cringed. He remembered Yui threatening to tie him up and drag him out if he didn’t stop sulking in his apartment all the time. To his defense, he did have dumb paperwork to do. Now that Yui had taken down most of her personal pictures and cleaned out her room, he had to fill in the empty spots in the walls and think up a new way to set up the vacant block in his apartment. He was still working on that, actually.

“I have been busy,” Sugawara said, and tried to keep the nervousness out of his voice.

“Really?” Daichi hummed and shook his head. Sugawara felt himself breathe again when Daichi stepped back and took a seat on the porch steps, sighing. “Not busy enough to practice volleyball with a random high schooler at a park?”

“Well…” Sugawara shrugged. “You know, when a fifteen year old comes up to you at your workplace begging you to play volleyball, it’s hard to say no.” Or maybe that was Sugawara being weak to kids in distress again. And that he was recovering from a crush on said kid’s older brother and may have been curious about a couple things concerning that. “He was very convincing.”

Daichi didn’t look too assured by that, glancing back to the door Tobio had just disappeared behind suspiciously.

It was pretty nice, actually, to see these two again. He could see they cared about each other, the way they talked about each other all the time. Sugawara couldn’t help but wonder about Tobio’s complaints about Daichi’s health and how Daichi ran all over town looking for his brother.

It was refreshing, even if it needed some work.

“You shouldn’t be too mad at him,” Sugawara told Daichi, who was surprised when Sugawara took a seat next to him on the staircase. “He actually saved me from another boring evening sitting in my apartment watching movies all by my lonesome self. I guess I do need to get out more, it’s hard to find new things to do for my nonexistent roommate.”

Daichi snorted. “You could have come by the restaurant. It would be nice if you could come by then and again, actually. Maybe Tobio would come by more often too and do something other than find different ways to hit a volleyball.”

 _Yes, but how would I be able to avoid you then?_ Sugawara actually had been to Ennoshita’s workplace a few times prior to the wedding, the saving grace of his financial turmoil in college, but he never saw Daichi there. Or maybe he just didn’t notice him, but that just made it all the more painful.

“Y-You’re not still caught up about what he said during the wedding, are you?” Daichi asked, and Sugawara nearly slipped off of the staircase and onto the icy ground.

“What? No! Of course not!” _Yes._ It was one of the great mysteries that haunted him to this day. Sugawara quickly sat up straight and pulled a suspicious face. “You’re not reconsidering my hotness, are you?”

Daichi shoved him aside playfully, and Sugawara failed to hold his laughter back. “I already told you that you’re plenty attractive,” Daichi assured him with a serious face, but Sugawara could see his mouth twitch. “It shouldn’t be hard for you to go out and find someone to fill in those empty gaps you have in your sad, sad life.”

 _Ah, he really thinks that, huh?_ Sugawara sat in silence for a couple moments, giving Daichi a long look of consideration. He sighed, shaking head. “You’d be surprised. Not all of us have the luck you do.”

“Huh?” Daichi replied, blinking.

“Tobio’s told me about your army of girlfriends,” Sugawara said, watching in amusement as Daichi’s mouth dropped and his face turned a bright red. “Tobio’s a pretty blunt boy, you shouldn’t be shouldn’t be so surprised how much truth he can spill about your embarrassing life in such a short amount of time. And he particularly wasn’t satisfied with your partners. Should I be worried?”

“Oh, he’s going to have to be,” Daichi whispered, and then looked over at Sugawara. “No, no, she was… well, she wasn’t the best. I don’t think she liked Tobio that much, kept saying that he was too intense for her, but she seemed to care about me.” Daichi shook his head. “I don’t know, it’s just that… I’m not really comfortable around people who don’t like my brother. He’s difficult, but…”

“He’s not a bad kid?” Sugawara finished, almost surprised he remembered this bit of their conversation from last month. It wasn’t like he had replayed it in his head so many times since then, not trying to remember his face.

“Yeah,” Daichi replied, a faint smile on his face. “I’m actually pretty surprised you got to him so quickly. Seriously, what’s your secret?”

“I have a secret?” Sugawara didn’t actually having to be afraid of Tobio. It was as if Suga liked volleyball and that’s all he needed, except there had to be more than that. Tobio didn’t get along with his entire volleyball team and even seemed to get annoyed by his coach, but Sugawara must have done something to gain his approval. “Well…” Sugawara began. “I have been told that my advice brings luck to anyone who receives it. More importantly, did any of your _girlfriends_ play volleyball?”

Daichi gave a bark of wonderful, wonderful laughter. “I actually did date a volleyball player back in my fourth year of college!” He must have been expecting that one. “Tobio was nine then; he was so upset that she wouldn’t take him seriously. I don’t think we got along that well, though, it became pretty awkward. I started to get places with the restaurant and my life got pretty busy then, so we broke it off.”

“Was Tobio happy about that?” Sugawara asked.

“He’s happy whenever I break up with any of my girlfriends,” Daichi muttered, pouting. “He has a box in his room that he calls the ‘Single Daichi’ box and it’s filled with stuff that helps me get over my breakups. He had alcohol in there one time after he smuggled it off one of my employees, but I think me yelling at him about it helped me get over it a lot better than the stuff in the box.”

That was… so fitting for him. The image of Daichi feeling oddly refreshed after having a good argument with his brother made Sugawara brake into a fit of giggles, getting him a glare from his partner. “You know,” he said, looking back at Daichi. “You Sawamuras are a piece of work, both of you. I wonder what happens when you guys talk civilly, it must be world-changing.”

“ _You’re_ a piece of work, Sugawara Koushi,” Daichi said, and swatted at his snickering partner.

Surprisingly, Sugawara had never felt more comfortable than he could have ever imagine.

Even with all of this discussion about brothers and girlfriends and mistakes, Sugawara couldn’t help but enjoy this time he was spending with Daichi. There were sometimes over the past month that he imagined meeting that charming man from the wedding again, though most of them ended in him utterly destroying himself over the fact that he was, theoretically, off-limits. Recent events only fought to prove this theory since nothing of Daichi’s history or Tobio’s complaints mention Daichi ever, ever dating or even being in interested in guys.

But… talking to Daichi wasn’t all about that. Daichi was caring and considerate and intolerant of people fucking around with his family no matter how annoying they were. But he was also trouble, just like his brother. One had to be if he worried the crap out of his younger brother like that and had a notorious history of failed romances.

And then there was Tobio, socially reckless, volleyball-driven Sawamura Tobio. If there was anyone besides Daichi and little Yamaguchi that Sugawara wasn’t finished with, it was this boy. He couldn’t play a couple practice rounds of volleyball with him and tap at his school problems with a ten foot pole and expect himself to just leave him. Him and Daichi.

It was the troublesome ones Sugawara could never leave alone.

“Hey, Daichi,” Sugawara said, breaking the comfortable silence had hung over them. “You wouldn’t mind if Tobio still wanted to practice with me, would you?”

Daichi’s eyes widened in shock. He stared at Sugawara for a couple of moments, as if to wait for a punchline, but Sugawara only returned it with an amused smile. “Oh my god, you’re serious.”

“Okay, now you’re just insulting him,” Sugawara said. “You know, you both really have to learn to cool your tempers. Tobio’s not going to understand that you care for him if you keep telling him that he’s a menace all the time. I mean I know —”

“Yes.”

“—that you do it from the bottom of your heart and I really like that ab—Excuse me?”

Daichi got up from the cold staircase and faced Suga, determination in his eyes. “Just make sure he doesn’t get into any fights, alright? And that he’s treating other people right. And don’t let him get you to buy him anything! And that he’s not out until eight all the time, or maybe seven now that he’s grounded. And just... take care of him, please.” Daichi let out a breath, his expression weary. “…He’s all I have left.”

Sugawara looked up at him with thoughtful eyes. “All I said was that I wanted to practice with him, you know.”

But Daichi didn’t protest to that, giving him a knowing smile, and Sugawara stilled.

“Yeah,” he said. “That’s what I meant.”

 _These two._ Sugawara sighed.

Two days back with the Sawamuras and they were already going to be the end of him.

Sugawara got up and stood in front of Daichi, who never broke his determined gaze. “Don’t worry, I’ll do my best with him. He needs it.”

Then reached over, grabbed Daichi’s coat by the lapels, and pulled him forward, allowing him to stumble toward him with a surprised sound. He smiled, feeling Daichi’s shocked gaze looking down on him.

 _This is enough_.

Sugawara gave a content sigh and buttoned the forgotten last button of Daichi’s coat. Finally, he tightened up Daichi’s snug scarf and stuffed it into his coat with an embarrassed protest from his partner. He felt the question coming, that was just Daichi, really. But he stepped away as soon as Daichi opened his mouth, and pressed one finger into Daichi’s chest, grinning.

“And you know, he’s not the only one.”

 

* * *

  

Daichi’s name lay on his lips that night. It was bittersweet; it was hard to sleep like that.

 _Don’t get attached_ , was what he thought just the other day, and he thought it again tonight. It was dangerous, involving himself with someone so unknown to him. Daichi may have been wonderful, but he was still a mystery to Sugawara.

He wanted this family, but he wasn’t sure if he could keep it. Refusing wouldn’t be hard; he had done it before, to many people who made him feel too comfortable. But this time made him feel stranger.

Tobio’s pained face was what got in the way, most of the time. Sometimes it was Yui, in high school, her eyes black and her voice echoing “ _You’re here, Sugawara._ ” Sometimes it was his students, the safe and the hurt ones. Sometimes it was his father.

But Sugawara kept on looking in his head for answers, because somehow, Sawamura Daichi was different. He didn’t know if it was his work or his brother or his amazing smile. Maybe it was just the Sugawara instinct, the need to take care of people. Or maybe it was just Daichi.

Sugawara didn’t know right now. But he did know that he wanted this.

  

* * *

 

When Sugawara first been to the Flightless Crow, Ennoshita was celebrating his grand accomplishment of finding a way to pay for his first college apartment. It would have been a small affair, but as Ennoshita’s childhood friend and confidant, Nishinoya was sure to make things much more complicated.

Looking at it now, the quaint, crowded little beauty sitting on the corner just outside the college town, he was surprised he didn’t meet Daichi years earlier when they nearly got thrown out before Sugawara had to save their future accessibility to the restaurant. And Ennoshita’s job. Maybe he had fallen asleep at his desk and didn’t hear about it until later. Maybe Ennoshita saved them all in the end. Sugawara could almost imagine that.

Maybe if he walked across the street right now, he could go inside and ask Daichi himself.

“Koushi… Koushi? Chikara’s not working today. It’s Sunday.”

“Sunday?” Yui raised an eyebrow at her companion, arms filled with bags of paper streamers and diabetes-inducing sweets. Sugawara had to stop doing that. He was not ready to get into a discussion with her about his dumb crush. For one, it was really, really dumb right now. “Oh! Yeah, I just thought that, you know, I haven’t seen this place in a while.”

“That’s because you never come when I tell you to!” Yui scolded him, knocking him on the side with one of her bags and making him stumble a bit. “Well, at least you’re out with me today, but jeez, Koushi! Soon I’m going to have to be asking _Kuroo_ to babysit your dumb butt if you’re going to be as weird as you have been lately.”

 _You’re a little late for that_ , Sugawara thought in shame.

Still, Sugawara wondered if he’d be able to see Daichi from the window here. Would he be able to see him from here? He must work there every day if he owns the place, right? The outdoor area wouldn’t have anyone in this snow, though.

“Koushi the groceries are going to melt!” Yui called to him, already walking on ahead.

“They will not! It’s practically subzero out here, Yui!” Sugawara yelled after her, but ran back up to her anyway.

“You’re just weaaak,” she teased, sticking her tongue out playfully and walking further ahead. Still, Yui gave a happy hum and shook her head at her friend.

Sugawara gave one more glance back at the restaurant, and sighed.

_Let it go, Suga. You can visit them any time._

“Come on, come on!” Yui called out to him as he ran back up to her. “Well? You were just in the middle of telling me about Monday. What’s going on?”

Monday? What was he… “Oh!” he exclaimed. “Someone’s going to be joining us to help with the preparations! I think you’ll like him, he seems like a little sweetheart.”

“Really?” Yui raised an eyebrow at him, grinning. “You know I’m married now, Koushi. If you think this is your chance to set me up with one of your lovely coworkers that you never got to do way back when, then you’re out of luck. Not that I’m not grateful you didn’t.” Yui’s mouth quivered slightly, as if she didn’t think Sugawara didn’t know when she was trying to hold back a stupid smile.

“Very funny,” Sugawara said, and Yui really did let out a giggle this time.

“Wait.” Yui gasped. “Don’t tell me you’re trying to set _yourself_ up with one of your lovely coworkers!? In that case I would be so glad to help. I mean, I would hate to intrude and— what’s with that face?”

Sugawara looked away from her, holding his head up high. “I already told you, I’m not interested in that kind of stuff at the moment.” _I’m completely fine just watching the one person I really want right now._

“Ah, Koushi, you’re so laaame.” Yui pouted. “I would find you someone myself, if I have to, but you totally ruined that blind date Kuroo and I set up for you on a few months ago. He was totally into you and you didn’t go for it!” She thought about it for a moment. “Well, maybe you shouldn’t have, but he was still totally into you!”

“He was not,” Sugawara protested. “He was an engineer, Yui, you know I don’t get stuff like that. I didn’t understand a thing he was talking about, barely talked the entire dinner, and spilled my drink on him while we were leaving.” Sugawara hangs his head at the memory. That entire evening was a disaster he completely blamed Yui and Kuroo for. Also the reason he was never, ever going to ask Daichi on a date to a fancy restaurant. Not that he would ask him out at all, why would he do that?

_Because he has a smile that can light up a room and treats you like you mean something even though he barely knows you. Isn’t that all you wanted?_

Sugawara glanced at Yui, and shook the thought away. _She doesn’t have to know._ He knows how she can get when she gets the feeling he’s interested into someone whether he was or not, and he was very, very interested this time.

“I’m just not right for this kind of thing,” Sugawara said, sighing. Just saying it out loud made his heart clench.

He turned around, only to see Yui looking at him as if she didn’t even recognize him anymore.

“Koushi.” Yui turned to him, her eyes narrowed and her voice very, very serious. “I don’t think you realize what you do to people, because the way you describe it makes it sound as if you’re a complete loser. You’re like some wizard. You put your life into making people feel important even if you’re not trying, and suddenly they’re putty in your hands. You know how much I resented you back when we first met in our first year of high school? When I was so mad at you because you found me crying and figured out I was trying to quit the volleyball team? Then somehow got so on my case that you knew everything that was going on with my parents? Look at me now!”

“You got out of that yourself,” Sugawara insisted, though this was a story he was all too familiar with. “You’re the one who stood up to them. And Dad helped with that too.”

Yui smacked him with one of her bags again, making him wince. “You see? There you go again! You lead people on with your dumb pep talk and make them think you’re so amazing when only the people who really know you have the sense to see that you can’t even live on your own without going on some emo movie marathon because you’re so lonely!”

“That’s… not on purpose.” Sugawara said, not commenting on that last bit. “Even if they did think that. Which they don’t. That guy didn’t even talk to me when he took me home. Even you said he wasn’t interested back then, why are you bringing this up now?”

Oh, you wanted me to to _tell_ you? You weren’t the one who got _bombarded_ with texts about when your next date was ten minutes after he dropped you off at the apartment. He was crazy for you. I had to block him because he wouldn’t stop asking what your number was. I was sure he would show up with a ring and drop down on one knee at any time. What the _hell_ did you do to him?”

“Nothing!” Sugawara told her. “We talked, or, well, he talked. I told him straight out that I had no idea what he was saying, it was like nonsense to me. I remember we talked about his sister, though.” That talk was more private, though, so he never really brought it up. “He was having trouble coming out to her so I talked to him about that. We left and he called her, I just helped him on what to say. It went a lot better than I expected, actually. They were working thing out when I left.”

Sugawara paused. The walk home after that guy calling his sister had been the most awkward walk home he had ever had.

“Oh, and I spilled my drink on him,” he finished. “I had to clean it off him in the bathroom. He didn’t look happy about it, he was so tense. Didn’t I mention that?”

Yui just stared at him.  They stood like that, frozen stiff together in the icy snow, for a lot longer than Sugawara expected. The silence continued, and Sugawara began to shift uncomfortably. This wasn’t a hard situation to respond to. She wasn’t seriously thinking about this, was she?

He nudged her. “Hey…”

“You’re unbelievable, Sugawara Koushi. So astonishingly unbelievable,” Yui said. She sighed and thankfully, pulled over into a different subject. “So? Who’s this helper of ours? A dad? It’s not a weird one, is it?”

“No, he’s just a kid. He goes to the school,” Sugawara replied, just relieved they were off the subject of him dating now. Why was everyone so into talking about his love life? “He needed some help so he’s coming to spend some time with us. Trust me, you’ll like him.”

Yui scoffed, her nose scrunching up and blushing a bit. “That’s what you said about those sixth graders. They stole my gum and tried to look up my skirt.”

Oh. Yeah. Well, that was a mistake. “…He’s in fifth grade?”

“That’s not making it any better. You have to be careful, Koushi. What if he’s tricked you so that he can feed off all of those awesome snacks? What if he’s trying to cheat for a younger sibling? What if he has a grudge on you and is trying to ruin your career?”

Sugawara pretended to think about it for about two seconds. “…No, not really.”

Yui glared at him, upper lip turned. “Just you wait, Koushi. You’re going to be deceived by yet another little demon in disguise. It’ll be a tragedy! I can’t lose my best friend! Alas, I would say, too gullible for his own good! If only he had listened to his best friend, Ennoshita Yui, and gotten a date to busy his time with, didn’t stay in his—”

 

* * *

 

 “I’m adopting him.”

Sugawara didn’t even bother to hold back his laughter, and Yui continued to stare across the little classroom. Yamaguchi dropped another bundled-up paper chain into the box of decorations, looking so proud of himself that Sugawara’s heart ached.

That smile was worth too much. This was such a good idea.

Yui must have noticed the triumphant smirk he flashed at her, because she went completely red right after that. “I-I mean, he’s not bad! He hasn’t stolen my gum. Yet.” She glanced over at her purse, where she had experimentally put it on Sugawara’s desk. “…But I would want him. For a son.”

“Hm,” Sugawara replied simply. He could tell the way she had just melted when he greeted her by stammering out how pretty she was, and how well she forgave him when he asked if she was Sugawara’s girlfriend. He was a charmer, this Yamaguchi. Yui would probably want to cuddle him to death. “I would feel bad for him.”

“Heey, I spent years learning from the world’s best mom, _and_ I know my ways with little animals. This kid is a big bunny in disguise, he would be a prince in my home,” Yui said.

“Your mom…?” But Sugawara’s confusion died out instantly the minute Yui gave him that teasing face. “…I am nobody’s mother.”

“You’re everyone and their grandma’s mom,” Yui laughed, and went to capping her paints. “And you can keep being this kid’s mom while I’m out trying to make someone’s old German Shepard throw up.”

“Night shift?” Sugawara asked, collecting up her drying poster.

“You teachers and your fancy 'daytime schedule.' You’re going to die drowning in children, aren’t you?” Yui told him, not that Sugawara could argue. Especially upon recent events. “You’ll probably adopt the whole world if you could. I’ll make you a badge for it. SUGAWARA KOUSHI: You angel and ours.”

A muffled snort of laughter sounded from the classroom doors, and Sugawara turned to see Yamaguchi slapping a hand over his mouth, his face as red as the streamers hanging limp in his hands.

“I-I’m sorry,” he squeaked, only to be responded with silence. He blushed harder, his freckles disappearing on his red cheeks. “Oh… um… Did you want these over here?”

“Put them wherever you like, Tadashi-kun!” Yui told him, bright with newfound cheer and favoritism for Sugawara’s little lost-and-found fifth grader. She gathered up her things gleefully and practically skipped over to him to hand him a her little gift. “Good work today,” she told him, ruffling a surprised Yamaguchi’s unruly hair. “You should go home soon, and get the pretty man behind me to go home too. Okay?”

“A-Alright,” Yamaguchi said, nodding slowly. Sugawara had the feeling he was too embarrassed to say much after that.  
“A-Also, thanks… Ennoshita-san.” He gave Yui a small smile, forcing her to look away to Sugawara with a giddy expression lighting up her face.

“Ahaha! Just call me Yui, Tadashi-kun,” she told the fifth grader, and waved them both goodbye before bouncing out the door, leaving Yamaguchi standing frozen in place at the doorway.

Yamaguchi turned to Sugawara, holding the little stick of gum in his hand awkwardly in his streamer-flooded arms. The look on his face made him look as if he just got a bouquet of roses from a lovely lady.

Sugawara was glad, though. Yamaguchi was pretty clumsy when it came to handling tasks, but he seemed to always give his all into it. It reminded him of a certain grumpy volleyball player, except a lot less angry and a lot more apologies. It was spectacular how different these boys could be while being so similar.

“You can put those back in the box for now, Yamaguchi-kun. We’ll save them for next time,” Sugawara told him after hanging up Yui’s poster to dry, and Yamaguchi quickly obeyed. _He’s so panicked_ , Sugawara thought. _I’m not going to hurt him…_

“Hey, Sugawara-sensei?”

“Yeah?”

“What does… erm… Yui-san do?”

Oh, he must have heard that comment about the German Shepard. Way to go, Yui. “She’s a vet. She works at the animal clinic down in the city.”

“That’s cool…” Yamaguchi said, his eyes shining with awe, but soon became thoughtful again. “Then she was serious about that too? I mean… uh, adopting me?”

Sugawara looked over at Yamaguchi, who was obviously thinking hard about this the way his face had scrunched up. Sugawara knelt down and put on a reassuring smile. “She was just thinking out loud. I bet would if she could, though.”

“Oh… I’m already adopted, though,” Yamaguchi said, making Sugawara blink in surprise. “I like my new parents the best, but think she’d be a nice mom.”

“…Maybe,” Sugawara said, imagining Yui spoiling her young freckled son.

He paused. “…U-Um, not to be nosy or anything…” Yamaguchi stammered, waving his hands apologetically. “You don’t have any kids, do you?”

“No, I’m still single, actually. …I would love to have kids, though,” Sugawara replied honestly. “I just don’t have the time to do any of that right now.” A little less honestly.

Yamaguchi gave him a long look, and Sugawara couldn’t help but compare it to Yui’s disgruntled stare-down from their shopping trip weekend. Though, instead of hitting him, Yamaguchi just smiled nervously and said, “I wonder what kind of dad you’d be, Sugawara-sensei."

And before he could reply, Yamaguchi had already dashed off to get his coat.

Sugawara stood up, a little dazed. That was the first time someone had said something like that. Honestly, Sugawara thought they all just assumed on their own what kind of person he was and went with it.

He kind of wondered himself, too.

 

* * *

  

He found Tobio was waiting from him by the school gates the minute they walked out. Yamaguchi had mysteriously disappeared from his the minute after, leaving only a long trail of hurried footprints in his wake.

Tobio was not happy.

 

* * *

 

“…Is it my face?” Tobio asked after practice that evening, swinging unhappily and staring down at the battered volleyball in his lap.

“Um…” That was a very hard question to answer. Mostly due to the fact that it was 70% true. “…A little?”

“I can’t help that I was born like this!” Tobio snapped, but this time, Sugawara was unnerved. It was natural for Tobio to be sensitive like this. He guessed that it was just the way that he dealt with his strong emotions, but it also counted for another 20% of “reasons why” for him. “…You said the kid was being bullied?”

“Well, I haven’t actually seen it, but he was being used as a pack-mule and was scared out of his mind when I first met him.” Today, too. Yui had been apologized to so many times it was like he was a broken record. The words just tumbled out of his mouth too automatically. “Why do you ask?”

“…It’s not like I go around hitting people. Just the ones that ask for it.” Tobio spun the volleyball in his hands, a sigh escaping him.

“You shouldn’t be hitting anyone at all,” Sugawara scolded him, making him tense up. “You’re just really intense, Tobio. It’s quite the experience.”

“I don’t want to be an experience,” Tobio grumbled. “Not unless it’s on the court.”

“Well, Yamaguchi’s quite high-strung. He’s nothing like the Daichi you’re used to.” Like opposites, almost. Yamaguchi could use for someone a little more headstrong while Daichi needed to just relax.

Thinking back on it, actually, Sugawara wondered how much of a dad Daichi was to Tobio. When they first met, Daichi had made a quip about Tobio’s face. Was that where he had gotten it from? Sugawara never got the feeling that Daichi was abusing Tobio in any way, but maybe Tobio cared about what Daichi said about him more than he let on.

Well, they acted a lot like brothers when they were together, but Daichi’s concern for Tobio was almost… parental. Did they live in that house all by themselves?

_He’s all I have left._

It made Sugawara wonder.

“Oh,” Tobio said, looking up and then over to Sugawara. “Speaking of Daichi, did you ask my brother out Friday night?”

Sugawara was torn apart from his thoughts when he lurched into a violent coughing fit, choking on air. “Ask _who_ , _what_?” Sugawara exclaimed.

“He was in a good mood all weekend. I thought you—”

“No, no, no, no.” Sugawara put up his hands. “I can’t ask him out yet— I can’t ask him out _at all_ , is he even bi?”

Tobio’s silence was not assuring in the least. Eventually, he shrugged, not saying a word. Sugawara groaned and covered his face with his hands.

“So you do like him, right?” Tobio finally said.

“Tobio, listen,” Sugawara began, and turned around on his swing, making sure he was looking his companion in the eye. “I think you actually understand this a lot better than you’re trying to make me think you do.”

That got his attention quicker than Sugawara had anticipated. So he had been paying attention, but that response in itself wasn’t assuring at all. The revelation from last Friday only stood to support that.

“I… do like your brother a lot,” Sugawara admitted, gaining Tobio’s full attention. “But you know how hard it is to ask someone out? He barely even knows me and I… I don’t even know if he’s _into_ guys. What if he’s already looking for some other girl? I want to spend more time with him not chase him off!”

Sugawara shook head, calming himself down and trying to ignore the looks Tobio was throwing his way. His third day training with Tobio and he was already starting to show his uncool side. _What’s happening to me?_

 _So much for not getting too close_. Maybe Yui was right about one thing, but Sugawara never intended to share the more personal parts of himself with anyone. It drove people away far too easily, and Sugawara couldn’t deal with that.

Daichi, or Tobio for that matter, wasn’t really up for that option now.

“Sorry,” Sugawara said. “I just…”

“No,” Tobio interrupted, catching Suga off-guard. He swallowed, turning the volleyball in his hands unconsciously. “No, you’re right. I… I know what you’re talking about.”

Sugawara sat silently for a moment, looking down at the icy ground. “Because of Hinata, right?”

Tobio clamped his mouth shut, the ball still in his hands. He bit his lip, and Sugawara could see how he just folded up at the question. It hadn’t been hard to guess, after yesterday. Tobio’s unusual reaction was enough to tell him something was up. The way he talked, the ways he didn’t.

The way he talked about Hinata like he meant something.

 “…Don’t tell Daichi.”

 _Why not_ , he wanted to ask. _Why not confide in Daichi instead of me? What are you so scared of?_

Sugawara looked back up at Tobio. “I won’t. But you understand, don’t you?”

Slowly, Tobio nodded. “…He’s already uncomfortable with me, but at least he respects me on the court.” Sugawara was surprised to see Tobio’s expression soften. He tossed the ball up a couple times, distracted. “I didn’t like him very much at first, to be honest. He served a ball straight into the back of my head,” he growled.

 _Oh, god_. Well, what a way to make an impression. He wondered if it was better than getting called out by the other’s younger brother.

“But he keeps giving me chances,” Tobio admitted. “For some reason he keeps letting me toss for him, and he seems to like it. And he keeps yelling at me with “Nice, Sawamura!” and “You’re going to grow old with those wrinkles, Sawamura!” and he’s so damn annoying! None of that is necessary and he never tells me exactly what I should be doing!”

He sighed, and set the ball back on his lap, misty-eyed.

“So damn frustrating.”

Sugawara felt himself smile at his companion’s thoughtfulness. _Oh, Tobio_.

“I think I like your brother a little differently. He’s like…” Sugawara took a breath, at peace, basking in the cool winter air. “…magic, to me. I can feel it, when I see him. Maybe it’s not the same for you, but your brother really gives you the feeling like he can do anything. It's the most amazing feeling, I haven't felt like this in a while.”

Tobio narrowed his eyes at Sugawara suspiciously. “He nearly fell asleep right onto of you when you first met.”

“Well,” Sugawara laughed. That was true, but that was probably the closest he was getting to Daichi anytime soon. “There are different ways of making you feel it. He probably rubbed off some of his charm on me and now I’m completely taken.”

Sugawara grinned, only to be responded to with Tobio’s flat expression.

Alright, that was mean. 

“What I’m trying to say is,” Sugawara said, leaning over on the swing, eyes locked with Tobio’s. “I might tell him one day, but for now, I’m happy with waiting.”

He’s been patient his whole life, there was no need to stop now. Daichi might have been trapped in Suga's dreams for the past month now, but one encounter at a wedding and reunion talk wasn’t going to cut it.

He could deal with this.

But when he looked back over at Tobio, his face was not one of acceptance, but defiance.

This was bothersome. Very bothersome. Tobio was very good at being defiant when he wanted to be.

“W-What?” Sugawara dared to ask.

Tobio got up from his place on the swing, and suddenly, a fiery-eyed teenager was standing straight across from Sugawara.

“You’re not going to be trying to seduce my brother like that, are you?” Tobio asked him, completely serious in every way that Suga could not fathom because _what what what what whaaat_

“I-I’m not seducing anyone! Certainly not Daichi, oh god—”

“You should come to the restaurant on Sunday,” Tobio told him, his blue eyes glinting dangerously. If Sugawara hadn’t known this boy so well he would have thought he was going to tear him apart right here and then. “It closes early, and that’s when Daichi starts on his paperwork and forgets to eat.”

“Forgets to ea—?“

Tobio took a deep breath before saying his next part, clutching his volleyball tight in his hands.  “I’m going to help you, okay!? If my brother wants a life you're his way to that and fuck as if I'm going to let you waste this opportunity. We're going to get my brother to fall for you.”

And Sugawara should have said something, he really should have. None of this was right. Tobio couldn’t even get his crush to not be scared of him and now… romance? For Sugawara? Was it something he said at the wedding? Was it Noya’s fault? Was it Yui gossiping about him again?

But Tobio was the only person he knew that actually knew Daichi like the back of their hand. And did Sugawara need to know this information? Yes. Did Sugawara need this information to start a relationship? For a good one. Did Sugawara desire a relationship with Sawamura Daichi? Possibly…

“Just come to the restaurant on Sunday,” Tobio said, gathering up his stuff from the bench and turning back to Sugawara with deadly eyes. “After five. Daichi likes ramen but he’ll eat anything homemade even if it’s crap. Just don’t bring him anything crap! He’ll get sick and ruin business. And he’s not allergic to anything, but he hates yellowtail and doensn't eat anything sugary... and...”

Tobio’s dialogue drifted away when he packed up and ran, probably out of embarrassment. He didn’t blame the boy. Sugawara would have done the same thing.

But even so. He didn’t even get to the say a thing, but somehow these practices with Tobio had just turned into something with a whole new meaning. 

 

* * *

 

 

To: Yui  
From: Sugawara  
Sent: (7:49 PM)  
  
_What happens when people fall in love?_

 

To: Koushi  
From: ENNOSHITA Yui  
Sent: (7:50 PM)  
  
_disaster._

 

To: Yui  
From: Sugawara  
Sent: (7:58 PM)  
  
_Thanks._

  
To: Koushi  
From: ENNOSHITA Yui  
Sent: (8:31 PM)  
  
koushi i want you to know i was kidding.  
_koushi._  
_KOUSHI I WAS KIDDING_

 

_..._

 

 

_okay not really. but still!!_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LAUGHS IT'S ANOTHER UPDATE i'm spoiling you guys
> 
> Thanks for everyone for their love and support and all of the wonderful people I met (winks) and we now finally are getting the plot moving along holy crap. As for next time: hopefully something different other than swings and difficult people, and more on one Sawamura Daichi. Thank god for Tobio.


	4. if not, that's okay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which there are parties, heroes, and unexpected encounters.

A bright flash distracted Sugawara from the swarm of children scrambling around his legs.

“Look at you,” Yui laughed, dodging Suga’s weak attempt to capture her little camera. “I’m printing out a dozen of these, I’m sure Noya will _love_ them!”

“Don’t you dare!” Sugawara yelped, and his students laughed at his distress, the traitors. He flushed as red as his sweater, shooing off rambunctious elementary schoolers from his feet.

“Come on, at least for Christmas cards!” Yui begged, and reached out to flick Suga’s stuffed antlers. “I’m sure everyone will _love_ this side of you and your ugly Christmas sweater, Rudolph.”

Sugawara fixed the antlers quickly, just before little Futamata freaked out because Sugawara had messed up his gift. Luckily, he was by the cake in the back room with all of the mothers, stuffing his face like the rest of them. “Yui, we’re not making Christmas Cards together this year, remember?”

“O…Oh, right. S-Sorry about that.” Yui shot Sugawara a concerned look, too concerned for Sugawara’s liking, and stuffed the camera right back into her purse. “You’re going to be making cards all by your pretty little self, huh?”

Well, it did hurt a lot more when she said it out loud, but the awful truth couldn’t be changed. He had actually started making them earlier that week and tried to get Yui to help him organize their pictures only to walk into an empty bedroom. He had to draw pictures over the little empty spaces he had left over for Yui to write in.

And throw away one that he forgot would never be sent.

“Hey, Koushi.” Sugawara looked up to Yui’s worried face. Surprised, he instantly shook his thoughts away. “Don’t think too much about it! Chikara and I can still help you make yours! It’ll be just like old times, except you’re a free man now!”

“I can help too.” The little girl attached to his side piped up, her eyes shining at him from under her floppy Santa hat. “I wanna make Christmas cards with Suga-sensei!”

“Sugawara-sensei doesn’t need your help, Misaki!” One of his cake-covered boys yelled.

“Terushima’s jealous! Terushima’s jealous!” Misaki’s friend popped up next to Yui, laughing at her distressed classmates.

“I am not! Shut up, Kuribayashi!”

It was a fight quickly broken up when Terushima’s mother ran over to drag her son away. Yui, the traitor, could still not catch her breath. There had been way too many blinding flashes during the entire ordeal of Misaki and Kuribayashi fighting with Terushima at Sugawara’s legs and he was sure Chikara, and by extension, Noya, would know about it very soon.

But overall, the Christmas party had actually gone a lot better than Sugawara had planned it to be. He had been able to get a lot more done between work and practices with Tobio, and Yui and Yamaguchi had been excellent at keeping him awake and ready. He didn’t even realize how much he needed a second helper. Though, that didn’t keep it any less hectic. With over twenty children hopped up on cake and the promise of no school for over two weeks, for Christmas of all things, nothing in the classroom was safe.

Thank god he didn’t put mothers off his helpers list this year.

It was actually a good break from the burning fear welt up in his head from Tobio’s ‘Sunday Operation.’ He didn’t talk about it every time they practiced. No, he only gave Sugawara these expectant looks every time he arrived and left, kept suggesting recipes even though Suga told Tobio every time that he couldn’t cook, and dropped a new fun fact about Daichi every time he left. Like he was going to test Sugawara on all of this next Monday.

So far Sugawara knew:

  1. Daichi was turning 28 at the end of the month, so Sugawara should probably do something about that. (In which Sugawara proceeded to ask when _Tobio’s_ birthday was and it was _definitely_ not next week oh crap.)
  2. Daichi dropped out of college at the end of his third year, so they probably shouldn’t talk much about anything that happened around that time, and
  3. Daichi used to be captain of his high school volleyball team (he did _not_ mention that part), so talk about volleyball was  _definitely_ up for discussion.



Well, Sugawara could safely say now that with all of the nights he spent dwelling on these facts, Sawamura Daichi had taken a new life inside his head. All thanks to the help of thrilling questions like “What do Daichi and Tobio do on their birthdays?”  _Maybe they just celebrated it with volleyball. That would probably make Tobio happy by itself._ And “What was Daichi like in college?” _Maybe he got the restaurant then. Maybe Tobio visited and he would drag his baby brother around campus like a good older brother._ And “What did Daichi look like as a teenager volleyball captain?”

Sugawara nearly smothered himself to death with his pillow imaging the last one. How come it was he barely saw the real Daichi but imaginary Daichi wouldn’t leave him alone? Probably because Sugawara was a big chicken and hid behind an army of children and self-doubt.

“Hana-chan,” Misaki’s mother said to her daughter as she walked her away from Sugawara and Yui. “What do you say to your teacher?”

Misaki perked up, bouncing around with the biggest smile on her face, and looked up at him. “Thanks Sugawara-sensei!”

“Thank you, Sugawara-sensei!” Kuribayashi chimed in, puffing her chest out. “I’m so honored you would do this for me!”

“Whaaat!” Terushima called from across the room. “Sugawara-sensei, you didn’t do all of this for Kuribayashi! That’s not cool!”

“Sugawara-sensei likes me best!” Kuribayashi argued, until her dad threatened her with a glare to go over them and stop them.

“Sugawara-sensei, thank you!” Tsuchiyu happily joined in.

“Suga-sensei!”

“I made you a card too, Sugawara-sensei!”

“Me too!”

“Hey.” Yui nudged him, wagging her eyebrows at him and nodding to the cheering children. “You’re grinning like an idiot.”

Suga smacked her in the shoulder, making her laugh at his embarrassment, but didn’t try and fight his feelings. He was happy taking care of his little army for now.

 

* * *

 

Later, he and Yui said goodbye to the last of the children and their parents and finished cleaning up the remnants of their last activity (painting, which the kids enjoyed messing around with and made him an enemy of his clean white walls) when Yui brought up something very important. Well, something she found very important and Sugawara found to be very inconvenient.

“So…” Yui pulled out her planner with the hand not on a bag of leftover cake tins. Sugawara took one look at the little birds of the Karasuno PetAid logo scattered across the front in their flying colors and froze at the front doors. This was Yui’s personal planner, for Yui only. The last time Suga had seen it in his presence, Yui had been failing to get Suga a date for her wedding. “I’ve been talking to Kuroo.”

“I’m going to miss the bus,” Sugawara said, so fast he was barely sure Yui even caught it, but his best friend had a hold on his bag even faster.

“You don’t even take the bus! Calm down, it’s not that bad,” Yui promised. Sugawara didn’t believe it for a second. She killed any chance of that the moment she said “Kuroo.” “Koushi, we’ve been really worried about you.”

“Huh?” Oh, crap, did they find out about the Daichi thing _already_? No, it couldn’t have been that bad. He couldn’t really think of anything else Yui would be worked up about, though. “I’ve been fine, really.”

“Kuroo told me about the movie thing, Koushi.” Of course he did, _of course_ he did. When did Kuroo and Yui get so close, anyway? “I _know_ why you do that. If it was just some interest, then I would let it go, but it’s not like that with you. It’s been months, and… it’s not about your dad, still, is it? Do you need me to come over and—”

“No! No, it’s… not. I don’t need you to do anything.” Sugawara shook his head, though weakly, and loosened Yui’s grip off of his bag. _Was it?_

“Is it me? Is it because I left?” Yui asked, her eyes filled with sympathy. “I know I joke about it, but…”

“It’s…” Suga bit his lip. He lowered Yui’s planner, letting her free arm fall to the side. “I’m just a little slow on it, alright? It’s just that I’m still getting used to the empty apartment.”

Yui frowned, her lips pressed tight and her hand ghosting Sugawara’s bag. _You’re not fine_ , was unspoken, but Sugawara heard it anyway.

He was fine. Well, he was as fine as he could be, which was something he could handle right now. He still needed to make sure Kuroo didn’t burn the building down, and he was getting some cooking experience with the help of Futakuchi from apartment five. His landlord had even been sensible enough to give him a little (strict) break with his rent, which he claimed was compensation for being a valuable apartment-dweller since college. Turns out someone appreciated his dedication to that little place.

He had Tobio, too. Which sort of counted as a non-job-related activity! Daichi wasn’t paying him, after all. The thought of hanging out with Tobio for money made Sugawara’s heart clench. That was not something the younger boy needed.

Then he thought about his failing not-romance with Daichi, and began to rethink. Maybe he did need help with this, or…

In front of him, Yui sighed, breaking him out of his thoughts and opening her planner anyway. She set down her bag to tear out a notes page filled with a neat little list of names, dates, times, and locations.

Sugawara stopped rethinking.

“Oh no. _No_ ,” Sugawara said, but he didn’t throw the paper back. He didn’t drop it or crumble it up, but instead just stared at it, Yui’s flowing purple letters scrawled across the page like cursed writing. “I can’t, Yui—”

“ _Everybody’s_ worried about you, Koushi. Don’t you notice that…” Yui waved her hands to Sugawara’s overly red holiday sweater. “…it’s almost Christmas! You don’t even have to call them dates. Just meet-ups. Friend-dates. Going to meet people other than your high school friends and neighbors.”

“Noya and Tanaka are my friends,” Sugawara told her.

“Yeah, because Asahi’s been in cahoots with Noya ever since they met when I got into that fight at the grocery store with Chikara. Remember? In our second year of college?” Ah, Sugawara did remember that. That was when he learned little freshman Ennoshita would fight a girl for the store roast chicken when he was stressed and sleep deprived. It was the first thing he learned about Ennoshita, actually. It was an interesting first impression. “And Noya and Tanaka are a package deal, you can’t know one without knowing the other.”

That was a point hard to argue with. “I’m friends with Yaku, too,” Sugawara continued.

“That’s because you teach in the same _building_.” Well. “Plus, you only really got to know him this week because he’s Tadashi-kun’s teacher.”

“Still,” Sugawara insisted, folding up the paper of dates. A paper that he would swear to himself that he will never, ever, ever look at again. Maybe even throw away. “I don’t need to… meet people, Yui. I already have everything I need. You, Asahi, the kids, Tob—Tanaka and Noya, Ennoshita, even Kuroo’s here. I’m more worried about how you’re doing than anything else.” Sugawara narrowed his eyes at Yui, who was giving him that look that told him she was ready to say something important. “Ennoshita’s taking care of you, right?” He questioned.

“Wha… Of course he is!" Yui gave Suga the most dumbfounded look. "He’s amazing, even when he keeps forgetting to turn off the TV at night and never agrees with me on what to make for dinner and makes all those lame Rockman jokes! And you’ve tasted his cooking, you know I’m very well fed, and I _can_ get past his weird taste in food, thank you. Why are you even asking?” She protested, raising her head high to defend her husband. Suga felt as if the cooking thing was especially for him. “In fact, I think that we’re… that I—”

For a moment, Yui didn’t say a word, and Sugawara waited.

This was unusual. Yui didn’t usually cut herself off like this, especially when she talked about Ennoshita. Sugawara had first-hand experience on how much she could talk about him, even way back when they first met and they were like cats and dogs to each other.

She suddenly picked her bag back up, her ears red and her eyes crinkled with tension. It made Sugawara’s head spin.

“I-I think that you should stop calling him Ennoshita! _I’m_ Ennoshita too, and I… it… it’s still very strange for me to…” Yui laughed, the kind of laugh that made Sugawara’s heart drop to his feet and his mind reel with a novel of every worst-case scenario he had gathered for Yui. “N-Not that I don’t… Stop trying to change the subject! You should think about those not-dates, Koushi, it’ll be good for you. Really, you’ll be able to get your mind off… these past few months.”

 _Yui needs something_ , was the first thing that popped up in Sugawara’s mind. _And she won’t tell me._ “Yui, I don’t need dates, I need to take care of y—”

 “No, no, this is about _you_ ,” she said, and shook her head as if it would shake the blush off of her face, which Sugawara was _still_ wound up about. “You have to think about yourself, I mean, isn’t there anyone that’s caught your eye since college?”

 _There is_ , Sugawara thought. Someone Yui knew.

He had to tell her. He’s always told Yui, but Yui know about the last time he had a crush on a straight guy. And Sugawara wasn’t pursing Daichi either (unless he went by _Tobio’s_ standards in which he was on Daichi like a koala to a tree), so Yui didn’t really need to worry about another one of his problems.

But…

“Yu—”

“Hey! There’s Tadashi-kun!” Yui gasped, looking out the doorway, cutting Sugawara off by running out of the school doors and into the snowy grounds.

Sugawara sighed. He still hadn’t gotten what was getting to Yui, but at least Sugawara was now free with his plan to make her drop all of these “friend dates” until next week. Quickly, he followed her out.

“Come on, Koushi, he’s…” Yui trailed off, her mouth going still when she looked out at the gates, but this time Sugawara could see why.

Any doubt that Yamaguchi was being bullied fled from his mind.

Well, when a young boy with a tight expression was being cornered against a wall by a barricade of four much bigger, too-pleased-to-be-friendly children, there was very little reason to keep it.

Seeing it made Sugawara’s blood boil. He had heard of it, investigated it, even talked to Yaku about it, and even after doing everything he could, having it happen in front of him made him feel powerless. Was what Yamaguchi felt right now any different than what happened to him? Or Yui? Or Asahi?

One of them bumped into Yamaguchi a little too hard and tossed his bag at him. Yamaguchi shoved it back and (oh god, oh god) snapped back at them. Judging by the bullies’ faces, this hadn’t happened before. Judging by Yamaguchi’s, he wasn’t ready for the retaliation, which began the moment the next one began to move forward, fists clenched.

Yui and Sugawara both knew what the first retaliation was like.

“Hey, assholes!”

“What’s going on over here?”

“ _HEY!_ ”

The two adults froze in their tracks the moment the third voice broke out. The older children, still in shock over _oh crap, they had been caught by a teacher,_ failed to notice the bright orange blur that sprang across the gate entrance and brought a heavy bookbag over the first bully’s head with a hard _thud_.

Sugawara winced, his mind still reeling from _Yamaguchi stood up, the bullies are angry,_ and _Yui just called a bunch of sixth graders assholes_. God, he needed to really give her a good talk about that one, but right now he was more distracted by the little girl beating up a bunch of older children with a bright pink backpack half her weight.

“Don’t!” The first bully fell forward with a hit to the back. “Touch!” The second was finished with an immediate attack to the stomach, which sent him reeling back into the third. “Yama!” Both of them were running when the little redhead slammed her backpack forward. “KUN!”

The fourth one was already scrambling away from the panting young girl, who was holding her amazingly study backpack in both hands. Yamaguchi was staring at her with wide eyes filled with recognition and surprise, his mouth open in shock.

Quickly, the girl spun around to Yamaguchi, her eyes still bright with excitement and her stance like a B-movie hero’s. “You okay, Yama?”

“H-Hinata-san?” Yamaguchi managed to spit out, still trying to shake out the shock. “Aren’t you…?”

 _Hinata_ , rung bells in Sugawara’s mind. Loud ones. Ones that echoed against the walls of his mind in some sort of code that screamed to him _Hinata is—_

“I am the Great Natsu!” The girl told Yamaguchi proudly, smiling as if she didn’t just wear herself down swinging a heavy bag all over the place. “I told everyone that on the first day. You’re Yama. You’re super quiet and never eat with everyone else but you made a super cool dragon in art class so I remembered your name!”

Yamaguchi blinked. “That was a giraffe…”

“Yaku-sensei gave the amazing me a warning card that said you were in trouble!” _Yaku_ , Sugawara remembered. Yaku found someone. “So I hid until they let their guard down. They never saw me coming, and… BAM! P-CHOO! WHA-HAOW! The Hero Hinata strikes back! Yama is saved!”

That was all it took to throw off Yui so much that she could barely hold her laughter. Sugawara, however, failed embarrassingly.

“Pfft—” Sugawara forcefully held back his laughter with his own hand, but Yamaguchi and ‘the Great Natsu’ had already noticed them.

“Sugawara-sensei!” Yamaguchi squeaked, going rigid next to Natsu, who hadn’t stopped moving since she jumped into the fray. “Uh… um… this is…! I was going to wait to see you and Yui-san… and, um…”

“You could have stopped by, Tadashi-kun!” Yui stepped in, her embarrassment and anger pushed away for a grand air of adult confidence with her chest puffed out. “And your mom should have come too! I wanna meet her.”

“Mom…? Oh!” Yamaguchi perked up. “Oh, they’re not—!”

“Yama,” Natsu whispered, nudging her rescued damsel. She held up her backpack up to Sugawara like a weapon and glared at the teacher. Yui jerked forward when she snorted with laughter. “Yaku-sensei said I had to be wary of any intruders. Who are this willowy-looking man and brave-eyed maiden?”

“Hey!” Yui snickered out through her laughter.

“O-Oh, well…” Yamaguchi shot Sugawara a flustered look. “This is Sugawara-sensei, he’s in the fourth grade hall. I help… um, I helped him. And that’s Yui-san. She’s a vet, she works downtown.”

“A vet? Really?!” Natsu’s eyes sparkled at the mention, but she quickly went still when she realized she had broken character. Sugawara had to hold onto Yui’s shoulder just to keep balance. “I-I mean, the brave maiden is a medic! She must be protected well, Yama!”

“R-Right!” Yamaguchi affirmed, clenching his fists tight.

“No enemy can stand in our way!”

“Yes!”

Sugawara shot Yui a warm smile, who had stopped laughing by now and was just basking in the presence of her knights. She looked happy, but her expression glowed like she wanted something. Not selfishly or evilly, but simple wishing.

“Natsu!”

“Wha—”

Yui and Yamaguchi yelped, and it was like a scene replayed: a flash of orange and a short figure skidding across the sidewalk. Except in the presence of the two fifth graders, this young man seemed pretty tall. Especially with that jump he used to make his grand entrance. Sugawara nearly felt his heart stop at how sudden and fast that was.

“Are you okay?” The young man shouted, picking up little Natsu and then nearly dropping her because of her heavy backpack. “Are you hurt? Why are you sweating so much? What happened?”

“Nii-chan, quit it! I’m being a hero!” Natsu swung her bag at the young man, who looked… just like her. Her brother. Who was wearing a Karasuno uniform and had a volleyball bag slung over his shoulder. It reminded Sugawara of…

Oh. Oh no.

“Hinata?” Sugawara said out loud, and Yui gave him an odd look. _Crap, I said that out-loud!_

“That’s me! I’m Hinata!” Natsu cheered, but stopped a second later and shakes her head. “No! I’m the Great Natsu!”

“She’s the Great Natsu!” Yamaguchi followed up.

“I-Is she your sister?” Sugawara asked the other Hinata, desperate to save himself. _Oh my god,_ he thinks. _If I could get Tobio to stand next to him I bet he would be a head shorter. Just like he said._

“Nii-chan, talk to sensei!” Natsu beckoned.

“I’m sorry!” Hinata panicked, taking his hands off his sister and waving them. “We were playing games together last night and I… I-I’m Hinata Shouyou! Second year at Karasuno!”

 _I know,_ Sugawara thought, but having it said out loud and confirmed like that sent Sugawara’s heart racing. This was the boy Tobio had a crush on, the sempai that Tobio scared like hellfire. The middle blocker that was the only one who could hit Tobio’s quick tosses and sent Tobio reeling just because he wouldn’t pay attention to him. The kid that Tobio would rather Daichi didn’t know _existed_.

Right now he was standing in front of Sugawara and other general audiences, and he couldn’t tell anyone why he was freaking out so badly.

“And he’s the volleyball captain!” Natsu added.

What?

“Volleyball!?” Yui yelped. “Another young knightling!”

“Natsu!” Hinata blushed a bright red, and began to shake when he saw Yamaguchi’s awed gaze struck at him. Oh, that one was a killer. “I-I’m not the captain! …yet…”

“Nii-chan’s gonna be captain!” Natsu cheered.

“R-Really?” Sugawara stammered, slightly flustered because, wow, Tobio did not mention Hinata was up for captain. Kind of like someone failed to mention to him that _Daichi_ had been a captain. Were captains hidden creatures or something? “That’s such a big role! Your team must trust you a lot!”

“Wow…” Yamaguchi’s was starry eyed, only to still at the sudden attention on him. “Oh, um… I’ve always been interested in volleyball too, actually. Actually, I heard Karasuno was really good!”

“Yeah!” Hinata said proudly. “We’re going to make Spring High next March, right Natsu?”

“Go go! Here we go! Ka-ra, Ka-ra-su-no!” Natsu recited, and nostalgia filled Sugawara. He looked over at Yui, who was shaking in her place from excitement.

“I-I’m in volleyball heaven…!” Yui sighed. “We all need to have a match with Karasuno again, Koushi! It’s been so long!”

“Y-You guys play?” Hinata exclaimed, bouncing with excitement. God, he was just how Tobio described him. Or at least, how Sugawara translated Hinata to be. He was everything Tobio wasn’t, all the way down to the easy, approachable air and short height versus Tobio’s calling-Satan aura and near-six-foot build.

“Yui and I played volleyball in high school and college,” Sugawara explained, and Hinata _shone_. “We haven’t come along and played Karasuno in a couple years! But it’s always a good game with them!”

“Yui-san too?” Yamaguchi asked, and Natsu nodded to back him up.

“Hmph! You know how much trouble I went through to play against the guys?” Yui huffed, and Natsu bounded happily for her.

“If they can’t beat a female college player, then who do they think they’re kidding?” Sugawara added, teasing Yui with a light nudge.

Hinata stepped forward. Something caught Suga in that this was probably the calmest he had seen Hinata.

“We’ll definitely do it,” he told them immediately, his eyes flashing dangerously. “No matter who you are. We’ll get through you!”

That was the last piece that told Sugawara why Tobio would be so taken with this boy. From the way Tobio talked about him to his bright and caring attitude, volleyball spirit would always be number one.

“Oh… Koushi, that’s a challenge I hear!” Yui said, grinning. “Well just try and get past us after we’ve brought out Sawamura Daichi on our team!”

And that’s when Sugawara choked.

“ _Daichi!?_ ” Sugawara yelled in shock, scaring both of the children silly, but he was too distracted by Yui’s sudden statement and _what, what, what was_ Sawamura Daichi _doing in the picture now?_

“Oh yeah! Daichi, Ennoshita’s boss, remember? I think you talked to him at the wedding. He used to be the captain of his volleyball team, didn’t you know?” Oh, did Sugawara _know_. What he didn’t know was when someone was going to tell him, the association setter, that a fresh new player was joining them and they just so happened to be the object of Sugawara’s accidental affections.

“Even so!” Hinata told them, determined. “We have Coach Oikawa with us now! I mean, he’s pretty weird, and I’m kind of scared of him… B-But we’ve got an amazing first year setter, too, didn’t you know?” _Oh no, he’s talking about_ Tobio. “And he’s… also pretty scary! Okay, he’s really scary and I think he wants to rip my tonsils out!” Well, he did, maybe just not in the way Hinata was thinking. “But his tosses are amazing! We’re getting to be stronger than we’ve ever been!”

Sugawara felt like a teenage girl ready to gossip. _Oh my god, Tobio, did you hear about what_ Hinata Shouyou _said about you today?_

“Nii-chan’s a middle blocker!” Natsu supported, mostly to Yamaguchi next to her. “He’s so cool on the court! Like BWAAAHH! And BAM! And we’re all like WHOAAA!!”

“That’s right, Natsu! See, we Hinatas are small…” Hinata nodded, proud, and bumped a fist to his chest. “…but we can jump!”

“That's right!” Natsu cheered her brother on, echoed by the excited Yamaguchi next to her.

“Looks like we’ve got some tough opponents this year, Yui,” Sugawara mentioned to his companion, and Yui grinned with all the excitement she pent up since her last college tournament. “Hey, Hinata-kun.”

“Y-Yes… sir?” Hinata replied, jittering in his place. Sugawara wanted to calm him down as soon as possible, it was like this boy did not want to stop moving. It was pretty funny, actually.

Sugawara winked at him and flashed a reassuring smile. “Don’t forget that if you’re going to be the future captain, you’ve gotta pay attention to even the scariest troublemakers, right?”

Hinata stared at him, as confused as ever, but Sugawara had the feeling that he would realize what he was saying eventually.

“R… Right!” 

 

* * *

 

Yamaguchi ended up getting dropped off back home by the Hinatas after they said goodbye to him and Yui, and Sugawara was just happy that he seemed to get someone to talk to… even if she was pretty strange. Honestly, with Natsu’s brilliant air and eccentric nature, Sugawara had no idea how their friendship would turn out. Yamaguchi was a pretty shy and reserved boy, standing out so suddenly may hold issues in the future.  

Yui, on the other hand, had been so delighted about the Hinata’s joining them that she completely forgot the “important” stuff that Sugawara was sure he would no longer be bothered by for a while. She left him with a bright smile and a promise to do something about their Christmas cards.

Sugawara practically floated back to his apartment building that evening, careful not to embarrass himself in front of his landlord as he passed by his office on the ground floor. He didn’t even pay attention to Kuroo when he found him outside their apartments, looking out to the snowy grounds with a cell phone in one hand and a coffee in the other.

“First date’s next Monday.”

Sugawara groaned and let his head hit the door.

 

* * *

 

The Loud Lion was a quaint hole-in-the-wall that he enjoyed day-to-day thanks to their refreshing atmosphere and rather interesting employees. It brought Sugawara lots of things, like peace and quiet, fair memories, and a good place to kill off leftover sleep bugs with some fast drinks.

It also brought the realization that, when he became desperate, he went to Ennoshita. Mostly because his situation must have become so bad that he actually felt the need to bother Ennoshita, who had a history of being one of the most struggling people Sugawara had ever met.

Also because out of the few people he knew personally, despite being their best friend and spouse respectively, Ennoshita was the least likely to blab to Nishinoya _or_ Yui

“ _Sawamura-san?_ ” Ennoshita said after recovering from nearly dying after choking on his coffee.

Sugawara hushed him quickly and looked around the tiny café he had dragged Ennoshita into that Saturday morning. _Sorry, Yui, I had to steal your husband for an important freak out of mine, don’t mind me._ “It’s just a crush!” he hissed. “It’s not a big deal.”

“Sugawara…” Ennoshita gave him a sympathetic look. “If it wasn’t a big deal you won’t have called me.”

He had a point there. “It’s just that… Tobio’s convinced I’m actively pursuing him. _Which_ ,” Sugawara clarified the moment Ennoshita began to look horrified, “I am not. He’s not even bi!” Sugawara bit his lip. “…Is he?”

“The number of girlfriends I’ve counted walk through those doors is astounding…” Ennoshita said, drifting off at the memory, and Sugawara could feel his heart break just a little more. “Not that you wouldn’t have a chance, Sugawara! Did I, um, tell you that I thought Yui was a lesbian the first couple weeks I knew her?”

Sugawara sat up quickly and narrowed his eyes. “You…”

“ _Though_ , I guess that’s a little different because I wasn’t actually in love with her at the time…” Ennoshita laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. “And I had never actually seen her date a girl at the time, it was probably just me being bitter about the whole chicken fiasco mixed with how many girls I had talked to that had giant crushes on her.”

“You talked about Yui with other girls?” 

“I barely knew her, and I was a curious freshman, okay? I wanted to know what kind of girl was as desperate as me for a full roast chicken at three in the morning,” Ennoshita defended, and then turned back to Sugawara. “Wait, you said Tobio? As in Sawamura-san’s little brother Tobio?”

“Ah... uh, yeah." Sugawara took a nervous sip of his tea. "We’ve gotten to know each other.” Well, it was more like they were friends now considering he was probably the only person Tobio really talked to and Sugawara couldn’t really call him a younger brother-like figure without feeling really awkward. Not to mention Tobio was trying to set him up with his brother. “He… likes that I’m willing to date Daichi. Which I shouldn’t.”

“Why not?” Ennoshita asked, raising an eyebrow.

And… oh, well. “Because he’s straight and only knows me as the guy that sometimes plays volleyball with his younger brother?” Sugawara replied, his thumb playing with the handle of his tea-hot mug.

“Honestly, Sugawara, if you found some way to make him fall in love with you, I wouldn’t be surprised.” Ennoshita gave the faintest of smirks when Sugawara’s eyes widened in surprise. “You weren’t watching as Yui and Noya struggled to get you matched up. Even when I nearly slacked my scholarship off and was running my finances to the ground, they were still complaining about how you broke hearts like a storm.”

“I did not…” Wait, now that he thought about it, he was pretty sure the amount of gifts he had gotten during college was not normal. Plus the amount of absurd rumors about him, like how he was dating six people at once or how anyone who kissed him on the Saturday before exams would be blessed with passing grades in everything. Neither of which were true, and one being awfully troublesome every particular Saturday, but still awfully suspicious. “... You think Daichi would fall for me?”

“Well, for one, his brother is talking to you. That gets rid of Break Up Reason number one.” Well, that part was true. He was in fact talking to Tobio. “And also, I think if you tried, you could make anyone fall in love with you, Sugawara. You take care of people like it’s your first nature, you know how to make them feel important. It’s just about… finding the right person.” Ennoshita twisted the silver band on his hand, a genuine smile gracing his lips easily.

Sugawara thought for a moment. “…Could I drag him into the McDonalds ball pit?” he asked.

“ _No!_ No, oh my god, she told you about that?” Ennoshita set his coffee down and buried his face in his hands. “That was so embarrassing I thought she would dump me that night. What kind of guy bring the girlfriend they want to propose to into a McDonald’s ball pit? Aaaaghh…”

Sugawara felt as if he should tell Ennoshita about what Yui had said, but then some part of him thought, _No, he’s strong. He can take it if he loves Yui,_ and he kept his mouth shut.

“I’m visiting him tomorrow after hours,” Sugawara blurted out, making Ennoshita look up. “Tobio said… it would be good for him.”

“Oh, yes, I agree.” He did? What? “It’ll be good for him. He takes care of the restaurant like it’s his son, so much I think Tobio gets jealous sometimes. I mean, he keeps his clothes there because he stays there so much. I think someone needs to go in there and get him good.”

“You think I’m going to _nag_ him out the restaurant?” Sugawara yelped. Did he do that to people? Oh god, what he did to Kuroo wasn’t _that_ bad, was it? Did he…

“No! No, I mean… well, you will probably scold him for what he’s probably done to his office, but probably in your own way. That voice you use when you used to remind me to go home and feed Noya’s cat.” Ennoshita shook his head, and finished off the rest of his mug, letting out a loud sigh of refreshment. “Sawamura-san’s pretty intimidating, but he’s the kind of guy that will come over personally if you’re at the hospital. I remember he gave me a paid week off because I lost my apartment and had to find a new one. All I had to do was finish some paperwork he sent me off with.”

Ennoshita patted Sugawara’s arm, his lazy expression brightening into something reassuring.  

“He’s done a lot for me, and I think you’ll be good for him. You don’t fake anything, Sugawara.” Ennoshita told him.

A pause.

“Well, nothing intentionally,” Ennoshita added, making Sugawara stop. What was that supposed to mean? Sugawara could gather testimonies that he was honest in everything he did. “Oh, and one more thing about Sawamura-san.”

The name pulled Sugawara away almost forcefully. “Daichi? What about him?”

“If you’re going to take it easy with him, I suggest you avoid anything that has to do with his parents.”

“Daichi's?” Wait, Daichi and Tobio lived alone in that house, and when mentioning things about Daichi, Tobio said nothing about their parents. In fact, Tobio had only talked to him about Daichi. There was no “Mom” or “Dad” in their little picture at all. Not even a passing mention. “Wait, so you mean that they’re… also…”

“No, they’re not,” Ennoshita told Sugawara. Carefully, Suga noticed. “The older Sawamuras are… I haven’t really heard the story, but I know Sawamura-san won’t talk to Tobio about them at all.”

Oh… Oh. That said a lot about Daichi and Tobio’s relationship, and it wasn’t good.

And a lot about Daichi himself.

“So… he don’t like to talk about them?” Sugawara asked, cautious.

“Let’s just say,” Ennoshita began, leaning forward. “The last time I told him that his parents had raised them well, I’m ninety percent sure I was going to be fired if it hadn’t been for Azumane stepping in. Sawamura-san raised Tobio, and that’s really all you have to remember.”

Sugawara would have believed that too, Daichi just raising Tobio on his own. The thing was, that was the problem. Sugawara didn’t like not knowing things about people, especially those who didn’t tell him anything. Yui and Asahi were prime examples of what he would do to make sure that they were safe.

He wondered how Tobio was taking not being able to talk to his brother about this.

At that moment, Ennoshita’s phone gave a light buzz, and Sugawara nearly knocked over the table at the sudden sound.

“Whoa! Oh, wow, sorry,” Sugawara apologized. Luckily, Ennoshita had finished his cup. Unluckily, Sugawara had not.

Ennoshita picked up the phone away from the tea spill and handed Sugawara his napkins. “Hey, it’s fine! It’s just Yui.”

Sugawara stopped mopping up the spilt tea for a moment, glancing back at the very, very tall cashier that was sending him glares from behind the counter. “What did she say?”

“…She wants me to make sure you’re not trying to conspire with me into getting out of your dates.” Ennoshita raised an eyebrow at Sugawara, who felt his neck go warm. He hadn’t thought about that. Actually, he had only thought about Ennoshita for this, but…

“Oh!” Sugawara said, “Actually, I think I do need your help with something…”

The terrified look Ennoshita gave him after that was almost offensive.

 

* * *

 

Sunday evening brought Sugawara to the front gates of the Flightless Crow, and twenty minutes of that time was spent freaking out across the street.

 _This is it_ , he thought to himself at minute twenty-one, for about the seventh time since he'd got there. _Daichi’s in there._ The sign was switched to CLOSED and the outdoor area was cleaned empty. Ennoshita and Asahi were probably already gone, considering he just got a reassuring text from Ennoshita saying that the coast was clear (why didn’t Suga talk to Ennoshita more while he and Yui were dating, again?) and it was currently half an hour past Sunday closing.

And he was about to have a heart attack thinking about it.

“What are you standing around here for?”

Sugawara nearly jumped out of his skin at Tobio’s sudden appearance, leaping away from the boy and almost falling onto the icy sidewalk. Wow, his life span had probably shortened by 30 years just by being around this boy.

“Tobio!” he cried, and dusted himself off. “I… I was just about to…” Sugawara shook away his tension quickly and lifted up his bag. “I used that soba recipe.”

“Really?” Tobio’s eyes lit up and he lunged for the bag faster than Sugawara could think. He lifted up the Tupperware to take a good look at it and grumbled after just a few moments of observation. “It’s overcooked.”

Sugawara bit his lip. He probably shouldn’t mention Ennoshita spent all day with him yesterday just trying to get this one result out of him. And that he had been proud of himself. Hm.

“I did say I wasn’t a chef,” Sugawara said.

“Daichi and I need to teach you what good food tastes like…” Tobio mumbled, half to himself, Sugawara noticed, as if he was making future plans. But that was all until he noticed the walk light turn green and he was dragging Sugawara across the street.

“Wait, Tobio.” Sugawara stopped Tobio as soon as he began leading him through the outside tables of the empty Flightless Crow lot. “Are you sure that Daichi really needs this? I mean—”

“Wait here,” Tobio told him, and left him standing at the front doors of the restaurant as he dashed off around the restaurant.

The instant his younger companion left, it hit him that he was now standing in front of the front doors of Daichi’s restaurant for the first time since he met him, and Sugawara’s insecurity skyrocketed.

Of course, he recognized all of this. He remembered the first time he and Yui arrived at Ennoshita’s blessed heaven in their final year of college, and Noya was practically bowing down in its presence. Right there, at the front entrance of the outdoor area where the little black fence found its only gap. He always sat with Yui and the others in that little table right off to the side. It brought memories back that ranged from embarrassingly desperate to police-calling outrageous. The memories were mostly unkind to him.

The door didn’t help either. The door was wide and black and made him feel as if he was about to step into a castle. It never seemed that big before, but now it just seemed too colossal for Sugawara’s liking.

 _Calm down, Suga_ , he told himself. _It’s not like you’re meeting him for the first time. You heard what Ennoshita said. Why don’t you listen to Ennoshita more, anyway? You’re not even asking him out. It’s just food. Food and…_

Sugawara groaned when Tobio came back around and shoved a bouquet of roses into his hands.

“This is what you needed, right?” Tobio asked, looking far too proud of himself. “I asked the lady at the flower shop and told her about what was going on.”

Wait. Wait, the flower shop lady?

“Which flower shop?” Sugawara asked, his breath hitching.

“Dragon’s Garden,” Tobio told him, and the flowers might as well have set fire in his hand the way Sugawara died inside at the confirmation. “What? What did I do something wrong again?”

“No! I mean, yes— I mean…” Sugawara swallowed the lump in his throat. He could deal with this later. “It doesn’t matter, I just… red roses?”

“She said these were good for you,” Tobio told Sugawara. “And then she laughed.”

 _Yes,_ Sugawara thought. _Of course she would_.

“She said thirteen roses meant ‘forever friends’.”

“Oh? Really?” Coming from that person, Sugawara really wasn’t sure how to take that. He could almost hear her cracking up just handing it to Tobio and telling him what it meant.

“And also that you’re his secret admirer and you want to be discovered.”

Sugawara shoved the bouquet back into Tobio’s hands as fast as possible.

“Hey!” Tobio shoved the roses back. “Take them! They’ll be good for you!”

“Tobio, I’m not looking to be discovered!” Sugawara pushed the roses back into Tobio’s hands, panicked. “I bet you that Daichi barely even knows what the flowers mean and he will see the red roses and immediately think I’m in love with him!”

Tobio opened his mouth to retort, but seemed to have thought about something. He pondered on it for a moment, and pouted. “Well, it’s not like it’ll be sending the wrong message.”

“It _will_ , Tobio I…” Or would it be? Sugawara didn’t know Daichi well enough to be in love with him, he needed to get to know him. Did he _want_ to be in love with him? Did he want with Daichi what Ennoshita and Yui had? Tobio, aka Sugawara’s personal teenage love guru, would probably tell him that all he needed to do was play a game of volleyball with in and then he’d know.

Tobio shoved the roses back into Sugawara’s hands. “Just give them to him. He won’t hurt you.”

Sugawara shoved them back. “There’s more than one way to hurt someone, Tobio. Even unintentionally.”

Tobio narrowed his eyes and pushed them back, fighting against Sugawara. “Come on, it shouldn’t be that hard!”

“I’m giving roses to a straight guy!”

“We don’t know that yet!”

“Tobio!”

_CRASH_

The roses ended up in Sugawara’s hands the moment he and Tobio separated at the sound. Instantly, they both turned to the door and went dead silent.

“…you… really…!”

“…isn’t about… time…!”

“It _IS_! Quit…!”

Tobio scowled, and Sugawara’s panic was replaced with a dreaded worry. That was Daichi he was hearing, right? And… a girl?

“What the fuck, Daichi?” Tobio growled, and stomped over to the door and twisted it, only to find it locked. Sugawara, actually ready to go in there and do something now, surprised himself by being glad when Tobio pulled out a key. He opened the door, and at the instant, the shouting stopped, and two pairs of angry eyes swerved around to look at them.

Sugawara then remembered the roses in his hands and threw them into the restaurant bushes. Hopefully Tobio had caught all the attention himself, but Sugawara wasn’t going to let it stay that way.

Daichi was there, of course, at the bar counter with shattered glass scattered at his feet and an angry woman in two-inch heels standing a ways away from him with her fist on the counter. Daichi looked tense, conflicted between the woman before him and Tobio standing in the door. Sugawara took one look at the scene and instantly caught that this woman was not going to be leaving happy.

Tobio, for one, was fuming. From his shaking fists and eyes sparking with anger, Sugawara got the feeling that Tobio was going to do something really, really stupid.

“Why don’t y—”

Sugawara grabbed his arm and pulled him back, instantly gaining the attention of the two other adults in the room. “What’s going on here?” he demanded.

Daichi opened his mouth, but took a second look at Tobio, standing in shock behind Sugawara’s raised arm. “Suga,” he said, albeit softly. He quickly cleared his throat and began again. “Sorry. Just... we were just resolving some issues.”

“Nah, we were making problematic issues even worse,” the woman cut in with all the confidence in the world. She sighed and threw her head back, stretching like a cat, a cascade of dark brown locks spilt over her slender shoulders. Daichi echoed her sigh, rubbing his temples, and Sugawara could feel Tobio’s malice just by standing in front of him. “Calm down, Little Sawamura, Daichi called me over.”

“I am not litt—”

“Daichi!” Sugawara spoke up to the ragged owner across the room, and slid on a simple smile. Despite the easy expression, Daichi still seemed to find it hard to meet Suga’s eyes. Sugawara glanced over at the ruby-lipped woman. “I don’t believe we’ve been introduced, have we?”

“No, no you haven’t,” Daichi said, visibly forcing himself to relax with a deep breath. The woman raised an eyebrow.

“Should have stayed that way,” Tobio growled from behind Sugawara, and Sugawara responded by tightening his grip on Tobio’s arm. “Ow, ow, _okay_.”

“Suga, this is—”

“I can introduce myself, it’s not like we’re dating anymore,” Ruby Lips said, her chest puffed out and her hands planting themselves onto her hips. She wore an air of defiance, behind a thick but threatening mask of makeup and irritation. She smiled at Sugawara, eyes glinting with interest when she walked over. Behind him, Tobio began to curse. “Mizushima. Some people call me Yuri.”

“Sugawara Koushi. Some people call me Suga,” Sugawara replied with his most polite voice, as strained as it was, and held out his hand for her to take.

It was probably the longest handshake he had ever experienced, not to mention the nails that came with it. The tension in the air was so thick it seemed to make time slow down, especially with Tobio ready to pounce on her at any moment. Sugawara made sure to block his path off well.

“So,” Sugawara said, trying not to pay attention to how Daichi looked the exact same as he did at the wedding reception, except with more of the sense like Sugawara was about to get eaten rather than have a friendly introduction. “I just… help Tobio with volleyball sometimes. Daichi and I are friends.” Sugawara glanced over at Daichi, who gave him an affirming nod, more reassuring Suga that he was doing a good job rather than that it was true. “I don’t think I’ve see you around before.”

 “Ah, I was just leaving, no need to worry about me, promise,” Yuri told him with a wicked grin. Sugawara responded with his own, moving in front of a twitchy Tobio. “Just a little spat between the exes. ‘Aint that right?”

“More like a demon come back to haunt u—”

“Tobio,” Sugawara warned, shooting the younger boy a glare.

“What?” Tobio scowled, and Sugawara gave him a warning look. He huffed, but shrank back anyway.

“Good to know he’s got a keeper now!” Yuri laughed. “Oh, you were always an experience, Little Sawamura.”

“Alright, that’s enough,” Daichi’s voice broke out between them, and in three strides he was across the room and leading Yuri out the door. “Like you said, you were just leaving. Right? Goodbye, Yuri.”

Yuri groaned at Daichi’s persistence, but Sugawara was glad to have this intimidating woman. Maybe it was the heels. “Hey,” she told Sugawara offhandedly. “Watch out for Daichi, you’ll be surprised what he’s got up his sleeve.”

“Daichi said _bye_ , Mizushima-san,” Tobio snapped, and avoided Sugawara’s glare.

Yuri hopped down the stairs, moving like the breeze despite her impeccable shoes, and waved a goodbye in Sugawara’s direction. “Until we meet again, Koushi-kun!”

Yuri skipped off then, her hair flowing like the wind and her hands hooked onto the tight pockets of her white capris. As unique as she was in her attitude, a part of Sugawara couldn’t help but think of Kuroo.

As soon as Yuri disappeared, Sugawara turned back over to Daichi, his smile still on. Probably because that was the one thing he knew he could do in an air as unsettling as this one, and with an expression as guilty-looking as Daichi’s.

“Tobio,” Daichi said, finally. “Why don’t you—”

Tobio hissed something Sugawara didn’t catch and stomped off before Daichi could even get another word in, circling behind the counters and disappearing into the back rooms. Daichi’s face softened, but the frustration never left his expression.

“Sorry about this, Suga,” Daichi told him, weary. “Tobio doesn’t usually come by the restaurant on Sundays.”

Which told Sugawara that he hadn't been expecting anyone to come by, which could have meant anything. _Daichi’s ex came by_ , Sugawara old himself. Daichi’s ex, an apparent demoness in disguise (though he really couldn’t tell with Tobio’s opinion, his Tobionese was still in its first stages) came by and it wasn’t pretty.

Sugawara felt a million questions on his tongue. _What’s going on? How long ago did you date her? What were you arguing about with her? Is Tobio like this with all of your girlfriends or was she special in some way? Why did she come back?_

But Sugawara knew these kinds of situations. Daichi was probably angry and frustrated and, if Tobio was right, really, really hungry.

“Hey,” Sugawara said, his voice firm, and when Daichi turned to him, he didn’t hesitate when he hit him in the arm. “What’s with that face? That’s no way to greet a guest!”

“What?” Daichi was taken aback when Sugawara shoved his bag into his hands, and he stared at the now-cold dish with all the confusion in the world.

"I thought you owned this place, Daichi," Sugawara sighed, more exaggerated than anything. "Really now, why don't you just take your gift and start over?"

“Oh... Oh! Well, hi, Suga." Daichi fidgeted, embarrassed, turning Sugawara's heart to mush. He then turned to the dish again, glancing back at Suga. "Don’t tell me you made this.” He took one look at it and held back the same face Tobio had made the moment he saw it. _Restaurant boys._

“It’s cold noodles, how hard could it be?” Sugawara shot back, dusting his hands off dramatically, even though his heart was racing at a million beats per second. _No time to hesitate, Sugawara. Show your weak side and that’s how it’ll turn out_.  _Don't show that you're intimidated._

( _Or that you were getting farther and farther from the possibility that Daichi would really notice you in that way._ ) 

Sugawara grinned, bright and reassuring. “You know Tobio worried about you to be desperate enough to ask for me to get you food.”

Daichi scoffed. “Desperate. It can’t be that bad.”

There was a pause, and Sugawara frowned at Daichi.

Sugawara patted his arm for the effort. “Say that with a straight face next time,” he told Daichi, and his companion cringed at being caught. “Hey, don’t you have a mess to clean up? You can eat my disaster later. Where’s your supply closet?”

“Alright, don’t you start,” Daichi held Sugawara back from dashing over to the nearest door, and planted him firmly next to one of the small tables. “I smashed the glass, I’ll clean it up.”

 _Daichi did?_ Well, that explained why he was the one standing over it. “Shows you right for destroying your own property,” Suga scoffed, and obeyed when Daichi beckoned him to sit down. Wow, it had been a while since he had sit down at one of these tables.

“Yeah, well, I wasn’t thinking straight until some people decided to come in and interrupt.” Daichi set the bag onto Suga’s table and, rolling up his sleeves and turning around to make a break for the actual storage, before he stopped.

Sugawara froze up when Daichi turned back to him, eyes locked with his and his shoulders tense. He looked absolutely haggard, but much brighter than he had been earlier. It was a good look on him, appropriate, and it made Sugawara feel much lighter.

And then Daichi gave him a smile, weak and a little shy, but genuine. And like that, every problem that had built up to this moment seemed to fly away.

“Do you want to stay for a little while?” Daichi asked. “I’ve heard my drinks aren’t too bad.”

Sugawara just looked at him, his worn but lax expression, and smiled back. 

This was all he needed right now.

“I’d like that.”

 

* * *

 

To: Daichi-san  
From: Noya  
Sent: (6:27 PM)

_hey, akaashi wants to know if tobes' showing up for therapy this month???  
he thinks tobio's tricking you again _

 

To: Nishinoya Yuu  
From: Sawamura Daichi  
Sent: (6:29 PM) _  
_

_He's been alright. I actually believe him this time.  
And that was one time._

 

To: Daichi-san  
From: Noya  
Sent: (6:34 PM) _  
_

 _u sure??_  
 _i guess he's been pretty distracted lately  
_ _what ab you? srsly, akaashi's mad bc he knows youre skipping_

 

To: Nishinoya Yuu  
From: Sawamura Daichi  
Sent: (6:39 PM)

_Tell him I'll be good too._   
_For now._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> gASPS this one's for 10kkun who gives me faith by telling me the importance of editing while still loving me. I came back from my trip and wrote non-stop and dumped this thing out wOW. soRRY FOR THE LENGTH FRIENDS. 
> 
> Until next time, in which we introduce a new point of view.


	5. it is not said, i always know

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Tobio gets a book, appreciates store management, and uses his abilities for the greater good.

On his bad days, Tobio liked to go to the riverside. It was soothing, because could see the sunset best there and know that the day was ending. Incidentally, it was the place the furthest possible way from both his house and the restaurant, so Daichi might as well have been a million miles away.

(The thought itself scared him, at times. But he could deal with it.)

The sky was a flare of oranges that melted into a dark night; he could see it best lying down, staring up at the passing clouds. It helped that it kind of hurt too much to move on that day. Those bastards hit _hard_.

Tobio sighed and flopped his arms down onto the damp grass. What had happened today, again? Oh, yeah, those guys from the basketball club. It was true that they were too noisy back at the outside court. Well, it was mostly because their club kept on messing with the volleyball equipment, so Tobio had a right to be mad. Someone had to tell them and his team was doing a pretty shit job at that.

He cringed, and examined his wounds. Daichi was gonna freak.

His uniform did little to hide the bruises, which his brother would surely see once he got home. He would be contradicting his usual philosophy if he were to hope that Daichi would spend the night at the restaurant again. But summer was a busy time for them, and Daichi refused to hire somebody to help with management because why the hell would Daichi entrust anyone _else_ with his precious baby business, anyway? Tobio was just going to have to sneak in again.

Experimentally, he threw his hands up to toss an imaginary volleyball and ow, ow, ow why his arms, of all things? Coach Oikawa would give him one of his looks tomorrow if he saw this, maybe even threaten to call Daichi again. In fact, Coach Oikawa was one of those people rising high on Tobio’s list of ‘people who meddle too much.’ He’d already used the “tripped down a hill while jogging” excuse, after his last fight, and nobody, especially Coach, was going to fall for that one again.

Well, at least it wasn’t a split lip; that was what betrayed him the first time. Daichi nearly closed the store for the day to go inflict his rage onto the school, before Tobio could somehow convince him he had received a volleyball to the face. Though he suspected that only reason Daichi believed him was because that had actually happened before.

 _Daichi needs to get a life_ , he thought bitterly. In fact, what Daichi needed was to stop hooking up with his stupid month-long girlfriends. He needed to let someone help him out with managing the restaurant. He needed to play volleyball again. To go back to Tokyo and _stop thinking Tobio needed him all the time._

Which was the truth.

He thought.

(Between all of the fights and the stress and the people who didn’t even matter.)

The feeling rushed to his head, and he slowly lifted a hand to rub his temples. An ache all too familiar pinched at his face. Maybe he’d go to bed early tonight; he felt so tired. He knew Daichi wouldn’t let him help out late again because he had to study of all things and—

_THUNK_

“OW!”

Tobio shot up, cringing at the feeling of that bruise on his back flaring up to life. After the pain faded, he spun around to a guilty-looking box of fruit milk laying not too far from where it had bounced off his chest. He picked it up, realizing it was still cold, and turned back around to the road.

There was a yelp, and a familiar face came into view just a few yards from where Tobio was laid out on the riverside hill. Tobio could barely speak. What the… Why the fuck…?

“What the hell?” he said instead, his face twisting into one of horror. “Why did you just… Do you always go around throwing milk at people?”

“I-It’s a gift, moron!” The older boy defended and hopped behind his bicycle to hide his obviously trembling legs. Hinata always seemed to be be running off to hide whenever Tobio was around, he noticed. “Quit staring at me like that!”

What? What was he doing wrong? Tobio looked away, frustrated. He knew not everyone on the team was very fond of him to say the least, Hinata included, but he could at least try to stand up to him.

Still, Tobio couldn’t fathom what he was doing here, of all places. Hinata had never approached him before, not even on the court. That is, unless Coach or the Captain made him do it. But there he was, brown eyes lit up by the setting sun, his shoulders square and strong despite his all-too-apparent fear. He eyed Tobio down with overwhelming confidence, as if he were a peasant challenging a king.

(And not the kind of king that Tobio had always heard of.)

“What are you doing here?” Tobio demanded, because there was no way he could have been here unless he wanted something. Hinata may have been the only one who was actually comfortable playing with him all out, who praised his tosses like they were hidden treasures, but he wasn’t Tobio’s friend by a long shot. They’ve barely spoken to each other, even during practice, not to mention the fact that Hinata wasn’t even in the same year as him.

“Well, what am I supposed to do when one of my teammates gets his ass handed to him by some basketball jerks?” Tobio nearly flinched by how strong his comeback had been, like it had been the obvious answer. “Besides, you come here all the time! Don’t think I didn’t notice!”

“H-How do you know that?”

“Wha… Are you stupid? I go home this way! I always see you lazing around here after school, and you never noticed me!?” Hinata looked pretty offended by that, but after a moment, his face turned oddly proud. He pointed across the bridge, up where the mountains sloped over the Miyagi countryside. “See over there? That’s where I live!”

Tobio blinked. He couldn’t be serious. “There’s nothing over there.”

“Sure there is! There’s a residential area just up the mountains.”

“You can’t be serious.” Tobio couldn’t believe this guy, that place was half an hour away. Then again, this was Hinata-sempai he was talking to.

...Actually, route didn’t sound too terrible. He wondered how long it would take to jog up there.

“My mom and sister take the bus, and it only takes half the time, you know.” Hinata said it with a refreshing air of confidence that easily died out when he noticed Tobio’s piercing glare again. “B-But yeah! I bike half an hour to school! So what?”

 _That must be pretty nice_ , Tobio thought. Biking down the hill just as the sun rose sounded much better than lying down by the riverside covered in bruises to watch the sunset. He could just imagine the amount of stamina that he could build up with that routine.

Apparently, his thoughtful face was just as scary as his glaring face, and Hinata backed off again. “Just… Just take the milk! I hear it’s good when you’re feeling bad and stuff. It’s got one of those… those really cozy feelings to it, when you drink it. The ones like… gwaaah!”

Hinata took a deep breath of fresh air, all too dramatic for Tobio to take seriously, but then he looked over to Tobio and smiled.

Tobio stilled.

But it only lasted for a second, because a second later, Hinata must have noticed what he had done and quickly hopped back onto his bicycle. “A-Anyway! You should drink your milk, Sawamura!” he shot back, and Tobio could just barely hear him growl, “Not that you need to grow any taller...”

“Of course I can,” Tobio challenged, frowning.

“Ah, geez, that’s not what I meant!” Hinata flushed with embarrassment and mussed with his nest of red hair, looking much taller that Tobio remembered, up at the top of the hill with the light bright on his constantly moving body.

(In that moment,Hinata reminded him too much of the sun, and it was as if the sunset had only been a fragment of his imagination.)

“Hey, Sawamura!”

Tobio shook his head, snapping himself out of his temporary daze. He didn’t even notice he had been nodding off so much. “W-What?”

His expression then quickly softened, brightening up back into a smile as if it were the most natural thing in the world. “I’ll see you at practice tomorrow! Just remember that I’m gonna have Coach Oikawa put you on cleanup duty if you go picking up fights again!”

Tobio cringed. “What the fuck, of course I’m not—” And of course, his blatant lie was cut off with Hinata kicking off the road and speeding away. Tobio soon found himself alone by the riverside, dumbfounded. He probably looked like an idiot with his mouth hanging open and no one to yell at.

What the hell? Seriously, what the hell was that? Who threw beverages at people and ran off to let them deal with their own damn emotions? Not that Tobio had to deal with any emotions, just the fact that Hinata Shouyou of all people had come down to talk to him. Out of what? Concern? Was that really it?

He turned his attention to the milk box in his hand. Were these even that good?

With an annoyed sigh he fumbled with the packaged draw before stabbing it into the carton. _It doesn’t really matter anymore, anyway_ , he thought to himself.

(Except, maybe it did.)

He sat back down into the grass, and took a sip, gazing out into the evening sky.

Huh. The stars were coming out.

 

* * *

 

Sometimes Tobio woke up remembering this summer day. Not because he cared about it, but because thought of it helped him get up in the morning.

When he really needed it.

 

* * *

 

On one freezing morning in December,Tobio found Daichi making breakfast in the kitchen, looking much better than he had been for the past three months.

“Morning.” Daichi yawned, a smile fitting onto his tired features. It was a good kind of tired, Tobio thought. Not a ‘ _God, Tobio, I just spent the night trying to fill in taxes, again_ ’ tired, or a ‘ _Tobio shut up I don’t need you to pull out your stupid box again because_ I _broke up with_ her” tired, but more along the lines of ‘I slept for more than five hours last night and just woke up’ tired. He was already dressed and ready, but at least he actually looked refreshed.

Impressive.

“Well, you look awake!” Daichi told him in a playful tone, just as Tobio made his way over to the kitchen counter.

“Shut up.” Tobio groaned, taking a seat and burying his face into his arms.

But it was a little harder to get mad at him, when he was beaming like a man who just got promoted and proposed to all in the same day: things that would never, ever happen to Daichi considering he owned a restaurant, and Tobio owned something called the Single Daichi box.

Though, Daichi’s single status was something he wouldn’t have to worry about for much longer, hopefully. If Tobio was lucky, he could blame the same person who caused this for the decent amount of sleep Daichi had been getting lately.

Tobio would have really been on Daichi’s case for what happened at the restaurant with Mizushima if it wasn’t for what he saw afterwards. It was too easy to spy on them from the kitchens of the empty restaurant. Though, Tobio had nearly interrupted them at several points, just because Daichi could make Sugawara laugh in a way that made Tobio suspect that they were joking about him.

He needed Daichi to smile like that more often, and it looked like, this time, Tobio actually might his have his wish granted.

Tobio sat up and stretched off the last of his tired muscles. “What are you making?” he asked his brother.

“Thought you would know,” Daichi replied, still smirking. Tobio sniffed, the heavy scent of breakfast filled the air. It was nice; Daichi’s cooking always had a particular smell to it.

The familiar smell reached him, and Tobio’s eyes lit up, his mouth already watering.

“Tamagoyaki.”

“That’s right you brat,” Daichi told him, and Tobio got up and made a beeline for the kitchen, only to be blocked off by the head chef of the house. “Not so fast! Go sit down, you’re not allowed in this kitchen today.”

Tobio opened his mouth to protest before being silenced by Daichi’s _I swear to god disobey me and I’ll donate your Olympics Documentaries to the orphanage_ glare. Fuck, he hated that one, mostly because it could mean a lot of things, and actually made Tobio sit down at the dining table and wait for his food, where Daichi had already set out the morning drinks for him to choose from.

On the other hand, it did give Tobio a good view from the other side of the counter on another reason why his brother was a Grade-A dumbass. While Ennoshita and Asahi and the other chefs were amazing, Tobio had never tasted food like his brother’s. It had the home-style richness to it that made his _I’m Sorry for Missing Practice Again_ brownies and _Please Accept My New Girlfriend I Swear to God curries_ almost work.

 _He takes over the restaurant and he doesn’t even cook for it_ , Tobio thought to himself, bitter.

Of course, the management took up all of his time anyway, but it frustrated him to see Daichi sacrifice so much when there were better things he could be doing. Honestly, he had nearly thrown a pot at Daichi’s head yesterday because he went and made _drinks_ for Sugawara instead of cooking him an entire dinner that would have made sure Sugawara never left them ever.

He peered over at Daichi’s chipper expression. It seemed almost dreamlike the way he moved so fluidly in the kitchen, at this time of day even. Mizushima had come yesterday and he could still make that face without malice, and Tobio knew it was thanks to Sugawara. He had ditched the flowers and brought soggy soba noodles, but he still managed to charm Daichi like a dog trainer bonding with their new companion.

Except Sugawara did it with a bright smile and a grace that made had somehow turned Daichi from a half-dead corpse to a power groomsman with a few words and a cup of shitty coffee, some things Tobio seemed to lack.

Daichi seemed to catch Tobio staring just as his thoughts began to turn anxious. “Something on your mind?”

“How was your date with Sugawara-san?” Tobio asked immediately.

There was a loud _bang_ when Daichi’s side slammed onto the edge of the stove and nearly threw the pan out of Daichi’s reach. Tobio cringed at Daichi’s sharp yelp when he shoved the hot pan back onto the stove and hopped away to shoot one of his most disgracefully angry glares Tobio’s way.

“Nice,” Tobio commented.

“It was not, fuck—” His brother shook his burnt hand off, checking the damage. “It wasn’t a date, what even gave you that idea?” Daichi narrowed his eyes. “Was it Asahi? I swear to god, that beardie—”

“It was totally a date,” Tobio told Daichi, who, once again, had failed to get the big picture. “You were in a restaurant. Together. Eating. And you flirted with each other all night.”

Daichi turned his back to fix his cooking arrangements and to hide his flushed face at the same time. Not that it worked. His neck always turned a bright red whenever he was blushing anyway. “Tobio do you even know what flirting even looks like?” he hissed.

 _I assumed it was whatever Sugawara was doing with you_ , Tobio tried to say, but his mouth clamped itself shut. The last time he had tried to imply any sort of interest either of them could have had for each other Daichi had grounded him for the weekend as soon as they got home from the wedding.

That didn’t stop him from going out and seeking the wedding stranger again. He had even gone so far as to sneak a way to get Yui to somehow drop where Sugawara worked for him without mentioning the man directly at all. That would have been as awkward as hell. He would have had to explain why he even knew him in the first place, and that was not a conversation Tobio had been prepared for.

Still, he was glad he did it. Sugawara had kept Daichi there until eight just talking with him and had Daichi make expressions Tobio hadn’t seen on him in a long time. For some reason, seeing his older brother like that made Tobio feel secure.

Then there was that only reason Sugawara hadn’t stayed longer was because Daichi mentioned how many hours of sleep he had gotten that week and Sugawara practically kicked all of him out of his own restaurant. Tobio nearly got locked in because they had forgotten he was still in the back. That, he wasn’t really sure how to take.

But he was perfect. Tobio needed someone who could kick Daichi out of his own restaurant.

“Yes,” Tobio lied.

Daichi scoffed, and turned back around to add another layer of the egg mixture to the pan.  “I don’t have to charm Sugawara into our lives, if that’s what you’re thinking. He’s good enough of a person to come on his own. You should know that, shouldn’t you? You’re the one who insists on spending all your afternoons with him.”

“That’s not the point,” Tobio growled at him, grabbing the milk from the selection of drinks Daichi had set out already. “Seriously, Daichi, you need someone better than Mizushima-san. Or any of those other girls you thought were good ideas.”

Daichi went silent for a moment, and Tobio poured out his drink, looking up to see Daichi picking out the last of the tamagoyaki from the pan. “Suga’s a guy.”

“So?”

“Hm,” Daichi hummed and walked around to meet Tobio at the dining room table with the freshly chopped tamagoyaki. “Well,” he began, setting down their breakfast, “some things aren’t as simple as you think they are.”

Tobio met Daichi’s thoughtful gaze and slouched in his seat, silent.

Sugawara had said something similar to him last week, that he thought Tobio understood a lot more than he was trying to make Sugawara think he did. Which may have been true, but maybe Sugawara didn’t know how simple it was, too.

“What’s with that face?” Daichi’s voice broke through Tobio’s thoughts, his calm expression now sharp. “There’s food in front of you, show some respect, Tobio.”

The aroma of Daichi’s cooking hit Tobio with full force, intruding his thought and filling his empty stomach. Oh, god, how could he forget?

“And Tobio?” Daichi said, a proud grin breaking out onto his strong features just as Tobio swiped up their chopsticks and stuffed the first piece of heaven into his mouth.

“Whaph,” Tobio replied, the sweet flavor blooming across his tastebuds. Why, why, _why_ didn’t Daichi make these more often? Holy shit.

“I’m leaving work early today. Just thought you might want to bring one of your volleyballs along.” Daichi smirked at Tobio’s shocked face. “Just in case.”

“Wha… What the hell—” Daichi was practicing with him during the holiday. Holy crap Daichi was going to practice with him on a holiday _afternoon_. Tobio eyed him suspiciously. “You… Are you okay?””

“It’s your _birthday_ , moron!”

Tobio’s gaze swung off of Daichi’s half-offended, half-amused expression and over to the calendar posted on the family bulletin board on the wall just above the counter. December 22nd had been circled with a bright blue marker with a sloppily rendering of Tobio’s name scrawled in the center.

Oh.

 

* * *

 

Everyone came to the restaurant. Even Iwaizumi, who didn’t even work Mondays, was waiting tables as if it were any other day.

This was probably because a) they were going to face a holiday afternoon without Daichi, and b) if they fucked up while he was away it would become survival of the fittest.

“ _HEY_ , BIRTHDAY BRO!”

Tobio yelped, nearly falling out of the chair of his little corner table.

Nishinoya laughed, the shorter customer (who was actually not a customer at all 70% of the time, including now) was apparently finding it funny that Tobio had nearly had a heart attack. Though that possibility wasn’t fading as fast as he wanted it to, considering the number of customers that had turned their way at the sound of "birthday" (and some who were _clapping_ , no, don’t _do_ that).

“Did you think I’d forget? Big mistake!” Nishinoya puffed out his chest proudly, his smile too bright for Tobio to tolerate. “It’s like you don’t remember our fun together on your birthday two years ago! Heh, you were such a cute kid back then. But, really, you think I’d forgive myself if I just ditched the little Sawamura on his birthday?”

“I’d forgive you,” Tobio grumbled, tapping at his notebook, where Karasuno’s formations against their previous game had been drawn out. He was still stuck on how Kindaichi had ended up in the back the moment the other team’s best spiker had made his way to vanguard, and he didn’t need Ennoshita’s best friend crashing into his train of thought. “What are you doing here? You know Daichi still won’t let you back into the kitchen after that prank you pulled on Kamasaki with the meat grinder.”

“That was a year ago! He’s still on that?” Nishinoya groaned and kicked a chair up for him to sit in without Tobio’s permission. The entire incident had actually been pretty funny, though he was surprised Kamasaki had stayed afterwards. Daichi had been _deadly_ after that incident. “At least Asahi actually makes me work to get my kitchen privileges back. I could build Daichi a golden statue, and he’d still be mad at me.”

“He would probably question why he would need it in the first place,” Tobio said, moving Hinata out of formation on his page and bringing in their libero.

He glanced up at Nishinoya and looked him over, Sugawara’s words echoing in his mind. Nishinoya definitely had the size and energy to play a libero, but only disaster scenarios reeled through his mind when he imagined this person playing and wouldn’t go away. Storms gathering. Lightning crashing. Nishinoya rolling in and dislocating someone’s shoulder by the second set.

It gave Tobio the sinking feeling that Nishinoya and Hinata would hit off all too fast if they met, even if it was a 26 year old man and a second year high school. Somehow. But someone like this was friends with people like Ennoshita, Asahi, and even Sugawara.

He hadn’t been surprised when Nishinoya had moved in with Asahi after his childhood friend had made off with his new wife. Apparently his friend Tanaka lived with his sister, as he had heard from Ennoshita, and Nishinoya had been all too excited at the idea of moving in with their older chef. Asahi, for whatever godforsaken reason, had agreed.

But Asahi was weak to everyone, so maybe the mystery was more in the person in front of Tobio.

Seriously, how did Nishinoya do it? Tobio had thrown away the possibility of it being his smile long ago when he realized just how different Nishinoya’s face was from other people’s, so maybe it was… the energy? Sugawara had a completely different air around him than Nishinoya did, though, but they still attracted people so easily.

Tobio stared at Nishinoya. His proud grin, his disaster hairstyle, the way he slouched in his chair.

“Well, I wanted to greet the new sixteen year old in the house! Not that you need any blessings in looking your new age,” Nishinoya grumbled. “Don’t tell me boss-man’s just gonna leave you here for the day. Wow, I should just introduce Suga to him…” Tobio’s head jerked up. “…and finally get someone to make some sense into that thick head of his. Just being able to watch him crumble to Suga’s sheer— Why are you sitting like that?”

“No reason!” Tobio shouted, shooting upright in his chair. The slouching was uncomfortable, anyway. It must have been a Nishinoya thing.

After a moment of thought, Tobio reached up and touched his bangs. He looked back to Nishinoya and shook any thoughts of doing anything to his hair away half a second later.

“Keep talking,” Tobio told him, squaring his shoulders.

“Hey, hey, the little Sawamura’s trying to get a sneak in on his brother’s weaknesses, huh?” Nishinoya smirked, his eyes glinting.

Tobio whatever it was had been fueled by this giant misunderstanding that he was glad Nishinoya had created. _Yes, that’s right_ , he thought. _Keep talking._

“Just because it’s your birthday, alright?” Nishinoya smirked. “But there’s this guy, Suga. Like sugar, right? His name’s actually Sugawara, only everybody but Micchan calls him Suga. He’s so down to earth, it’s amazing. Like, I met him and Asahi when Chikara got into his Great Chicken Fight of Freshman Year with Micchan and oh, god, the only reason they wouldn’t kill each other after that was because Suga would always give them one of his disappointed looks every time they crossed paths. He got to them so bad after we got kicked out of the supermarket. I think Enno was scared of him for a while, actually. Nobody questioned him.”

This story felt familiar. He got the feeling that Noya had shared it once before at the wedding reception, but couldn’t really remember it as well as meeting Sugawara or Yui. Finding a setter and wing spiker on the same day wasn’t something that happened to him often.

Still, he didn’t recall Sugawara being a part of that story. Nishinoya had really known Sugawara for that long? He was probably a fountain of information.

“Did you ever play together?” Tobio asked quickly.

“What?” Nishinoya said.

“Were you on the same team?” Tobio continued, questions racing through his head. “Did you become friends playing together? Like I know you’re a libero but do you know what his setting was like? What exactly did you guys do? I heard you were a big deal in college, who were you?”

Nishinoya gaped at him. Wow, this had to be one of the few times Tobio’s seen someone practically glow with pride in his presence. He barely even noticed when Nishinoya had stopped slouching and started sitting like a celebrity in their interview chair. “Well… Well, well! I know I’m pretty amazing, but it’s a shame Suga quit, y’know? He practically made the heart of the team. Called him Mr. Refreshing, those guys.”

Nishinoya’s eyes shone as he reminisced.

“And they’d all be in awe when our ace would come in like _HWAAHH_!” Nishinoya threw his arms up and beamed. “Have you seen Asahi play? Like holy shit!” He was practically radiating in the memory, not caring that he had gone off tangent at all. “He, Suga, and I performed some plays I’ll never forget.

“D-Does he still play?” Tobio asked, leaning forward. “Asahi-san, I mean. Does he?”

“Only for the Association, but we’re trying to organize another game with your brother, did you know that?” _Wait. What. No, he didn’t._ “We need to look for people! I mean… Did you know there’s another former ace in here? Big shot. Even bigger than me, I hate to admit, but you could Wiki this guy. Man, we’d be all over him but we’ve already got so many wing spikers already, and he refuses to—”

A hand slammed onto the table between them, sending subtle droplets of a bitter-smelling coffee onto his book faster than Tobio could pull it away. Nishinoya yelped at the sudden appearance, and Tobio was about to give this guy a good one for interrupting their conversation in which _Operation Daichi’s Lifelong ~~Girlfriend~~ Boyfriend_ and volleyball had nearly sparked into full bloom, before he saw the strained grin of Iwaizumi hovering over his table.

“Tobio, sorry to bother you.” Iwaizumi said and shot Nishinoya a glare. Tobio felt the sting of his annoyance hit hard. Were they being too loud? This wasn’t someone he liked disappointing, though Iwaizumi seemed to soften at the sight of Tobio’s discomfort. He turned back to Nishinoya. “And you, if you’re done loitering, get out!”

“Hey, I…” Nishinoya’s eyes trailed off of Iwaizumi, cutting him off at a different sight. “Gotcha,” he replied, after a pause, shooting up in an instant. “Nice talking to you, Tobes! Happy birthday!”

Well, there went his information bank. Tobio sighed and glanced over at the order on his table.

“This isn’t mine,” he told Iwaizumi. Tobio didn’t drink coffee at all. Flightless Crow served smoothies, Tobio had made sure of that, but he hadn’t requested anything today.

“I know,” Iwaizumi told Tobio, tucking his tray under his arm and stepping out of the way. “Some wants to talk to you, kid.”

“Who could possibly want to…”

Tobio stopped when the newcomer stepped out from behind Iwaizumi and sat himself down into Nishinoya’s abandoned chair. He felt a lump begin to form in his throat, not noticing when Iwaizumi escaped back into the slowly growing restaurant crowd.

The newcomer took up the coffee carefully, taking a sip before looking up to Tobio with sharp eyes. “Happy December 22nd, again, Tobio.”

Tobio closed up his notebook quickly and moved it out of the way, sitting up straight. “Good morning, Akaashi-san.”

 

* * *

 

The conversation began after about fifteen minutes of uncomfortable silence with Akaashi halfway through his third cup of coffee.

 _Same old Akaashi-san_ , Tobio thought, just before his companion broke the silence.

“You haven’t been trying to pull any strings to make Daichi let you skip your appointments, have you?”

“No!” Akaashi sent Tobio a warning glare, making his patient shrink back down into his seat. Tobio scowled to himself and stuffed his hands into the pockets of his winter coat. “I’ve been fine, lately. I didn’t need to talk to you.”

“Hm,” Akaashi hummed, thoughtful, and took another sip. It made Tobio twitchy just how unreadable this person was. Was there a class therapists had to take to make sure they never lost their poker face, ever? Made them seem more untrustworthy than comfortable. “Your brother told me you made a friend.”

“A what?” Tobio asked, quizzically.

“Someone to talk to,” Akaashi clarified, raising an eyebrow before setting down his coffee. “Who you apparently don’t consider a friend?”

“No! I… do…” Was Sugawara his friend? He was perfect for his brother, yes. They played volleyball together, yes. Tobio may have been charmed into confessing his really gay crush on his team’s super short middle blocker to him, yes, but did that really permit Tobio to classify him as a friend?

Well, he was the only person who could really qualify. So Tobio wasn’t lying, technically.

“That’s good, finding someone you can trust to talk to,” Akaashi said, giving Tobio a glance that made him shrink down again, this time in guilt. “I take it you and your brother are still working things out?”

“Hey, it’s not my fault,” Tobio grumbled, burying himself into the leather of his coat. “He never has the time. You expect me to tell him about my problems when he still can’t even find time to sit down for dinner?”

“So I take it you’re practicing by yourself today?” Akaashi told Tobio, nodding down to the volleyball bag by Tobio’s feet. “Unless you’re going out with your new friend.”

“No, I mean…” Tobio glanced over to the back of the restaurant, where the offices and kitchens lined the wall. “He’s leaving early today. Because it’s my birthday.”

“Still think he doesn’t care about you?” Akaashi said, and leaned forward, curious.

“I never meant to say that!” Tobio confessed, but the embarrassment still hit hard. That session had been a complete disaster. And he didn’t realize just how much of a disaster it had been until Akaashi had nearly bitten his head off after Tobio had broken one of his pictures. Tobio glanced back over at where Daichi’s office was behind the kitchen doors, and shook his head.

If there was one thing about Akaashi he was eternally grateful for, it was how he had managed to get Tobio to control his temper. It made him feel guilty whenever he had to tell him about a fight, even if it was a necessary fight.

“I think you already know the answer to that, Tobio,” Akaashi told him, a calm air filling the atmosphere. “It’s easier to hate him when he’s the enemy, right?”

Tobio clenched his fists in his pockets, his face pinched.

“It’s not healthy to push away the person who cares about you the most,” Akaashi told him, his expression cracked to reveal a shimmer of fondness that Tobio swore he imagined. “And you’ve already told me why you think Daichi works so hard, haven’t you? Do you still believe that?”

“I don’t hate him,” Tobio mumbled.

“But you’re trying to.”

“We’ve already had this discussion,” Tobio said, sitting up straight in his chair. He hadn’t realized how much he had curled up through this conversation. Talks like these were much easier on a couch. “He never even asked for this place, but he’s still working himself to death over it for whatever reason. How should I know if that reason’s me? I’m never going to find out until he mans up and _says something_ , so we don’t need to go over this again!”

Tobio clamped his mouth shut. Shit. He was getting too loud again. But Akaashi just sighed. “You’re right, sorry about that,” Akaashi replied, setting down his empty cup. “This isn’t meant to be a session. I just thought I’d stop by. It’s your birthday, after all.”

Before Tobio could protest, Akaashi reached into his bag and pulled out a small, wrapped package that made him shut up immediately. He passed it over to Tobio, who took it up wordlessly.

“I saw it and thought of you,” Akaashi told him, zipping back up his bag. “I don’t do this for all of my patients, okay? But I’ve known you since you were twelve. Somehow.” Akaashi leaned back in his chair, wistful. “You know you’re getting attached to your patients when everything related to volleyball reminds you of them,” he grumbled.

Tobio tore open the package and his breath hitched immediately. “Wha… Where the hell did you find this!?”

“I have a friend who works with older books, and trust me, it was pretty easy to pry it off of him. You’re the only person I know who would go insane for a book about Nekoda Katsutoshi,” Akaashi told him.

“Oh my god. Oh my god.” Tobio held the book like a child. It was small and dense, but holy shit, he couldn’t believe Akaashi had just taken off with this thing to _give it to him_. “You’re not serious. How does this even _exist_.” He turned the pages as carefully as possible, marveling at every one. Wait until he showed this to Daichi. To Sugawara. This thing had stats on every volleyball team in the 1964-72 Olympics.

Akaashi scoffed. “You’re not expecting me to keep it, are you? Just take the book, Tobio.”

Tobio nodded immediately and slid the book into one of the compartments of his volleyball bag, where it wouldn’t be touched or breathed on by anyone else. He turned back to Akaashi, flustered and jittery. “Tha-Thankgh… Thamph…” Tobio swore to himself and cleared his throat, trying to and trying not to look at Akaashi’s face all at once. “Thanks.”

Akaashi rolled his eyes, but gave Tobio a small smile. “Yeah, happy birthday, Tobio.”

“Well, look who’s here.”

Tobio nearly jumped out of his seat at the sound of Daichi’s voice, losing breath at the sight of him standing there with a piece of paper trapped between his fingers and his sleeves rolled up like he had just attempted a week’s worth of paperwork in three hours, _goddammit Daichi_.

Still, the entirety of this conversation was something Tobio would rather Daichi not know existed. Akaashi, however, seemed to take the entire thing with stride.

“Good to see you too, Daichi,” Akaashi greeted, and reached into his wallet, ignoring his other patient’s suspicious expression. “Don’t worry, Nishinoya-san gave me your message. I just thought I’d stop by.”

Daichi raised an eyebrow at him and glanced over at Tobio. “Really? Not trying to pry information about me off my brother again, are you?”

“God, it’s like you don’t know what I do for a living, Daichi,” Akaashi said, in a way that Tobio wasn’t sure if he was joking or not. That made him nervous, even when Akaashi followed it up with a slight smirk. “Just wishing Tobio a happy birthday, is all.” He pulled out his payment for the coffee and stood up, hooking his bag over his shoulder and meeting Daichi’s gaze. “That is, unless you did have something you needed to discuss—”

“Thanks for stopping by, Akaashi!” Daichi hissed with a smile, trying to not attract any more attention from the other customers. He waved their therapist away with a little too much vigor, whispering to Akaashi something Tobio couldn’t catch, but somehow got Akaashi to give Tobio one last wave goodbye before making his way out the door.

Daichi let out a breath as soon as Akaashi had left, and Tobio eyed him, skeptical. While Daichi always encouraged Tobio to talk to Akaashi, he never had the same enthusiasm when it came for his turn to be put in the chair.

Oh well, Sugawara could change that.

“Hey, Tobio.” Daichi made his way back over to Tobio’s table. “Sorry about that. …You didn’t tell him anything weird, did you?”

“No,” Tobio replied, though it was a bit strained. He hadn’t told Akaashi anything new. Well, except for the fact that he had a friend. That wasn’t weird. Having friends wasn’t weird. Tobio then felt a smile twitch onto his face and he glanced up at Daichi. “I got a book on Nekoda Katsutoshi.”

“Seriously!?” Tobio grinned when Daichi quickly composed himself. Just the reaction he was looking for. “Show it to me later,” Daichi said, clearing his throat. “Here.” The piece of paper Daichi had been holding soon found itself in Tobio’s hand, along with a fair amount of money. “We’re going to be back pretty late tonight, so I need you to go out and pick up some groceries before we waste our day playing volleyball.” Daichi shot Tobio a promising smile. “We can leave as soon as you get back.”

Tobio was out not a minute later.

* * *

 

Tobio liked shopping at Shimada Mart. It was right on the edge of the city, right in between his and Daichi’s house and the Flightless Crow. Daichi frequented there a lot more than Tobio did, but he still liked the atmosphere. It was a quaint place, never too crowded and always easy to shop in.

Except for when they got new stock.

Tobio peeked back over to the counter, where Shimada, the owner, was still organizing his inventory. He seemed busy.

Tobio looked down at his basket. The food Daichi had wanted Tobio to grab were pretty simple, nothing Tobio had too much trouble getting before. But for some reason pesto was scrawled right there in the middle of the list and dammit, didn’t they make that themselves? Since when did Daichi become so lazy that he needed Tobio to buy some damn garlic mix?

But the most frustrating part of it was that the pesto was also not in its usual section. In fact, after a thorough investigation of every part of Shimada Mart not near the counter, Tobio couldn’t really find it anywhere.

That meant he would have to ask. Dammit, he’s never spoken to Shimada before. When did any of this seem like a good idea?

“Oh!” Shimada looked up and waved at where Tobio stood frozen from his place around the third aisle. “Welcome! Did you need something?”

Fuck.

“Um,” Tobio shuffled out and over to where Shimada could keep a good conversation with him, keeping a one meter distance between him and the counter. “I’m looking for something.”

“Really?” Shimada was giving him an odd look, as if he were studying Tobio very intently. The younger boy suddenly felt very trapped in his place.

“Yeah, right. Do you know—”

“Oh! I remember!” Shimada pointed at Tobio with recognition spread across his face. “You’re Sawamura-san’s younger brother! Sorry I didn’t recognize you, it’s just that you come here from time to time. What’s your name?”

“Sawamura,” Tobio replied, before shaking his head and trying again. “I mean Tobio. Sawamura Tobio.”

“Ah, right, I’ll remember that, Tobio-kun.” Shimada mouthed Tobio’s name in an attempt to commit it to memory and tapped the clipboard in his hands. “Right. What did you need again?” he asked, now satisfied with himself.

Tobio’s mouth felt dry just looking at the friendly smile Shimada was directing at him. He was just about to say what he needed. Did people need to remember all of the people that walked into their stores?

“Pesto,” Tobio said finally, thinking it was best just to get straight to the point. He pointed over to the aisles behind him, still not moving from his place. “It’s not in its usual place. Are you out?”

“Oh, right, we were reorganizing things all last week because of the new inventory. Don’t worry if you’re confused, even I forget sometimes.” That was surprisingly reassuring. Maybe he should have asked before rolling around the store in a panic. “You just go down by that aisle near the milk and… you know what?” Shimada turned and slid open the door in the back and _why, why, why, all Tobio wanted was pesto, he didn’t need all of this._ “Tadashi! Could you help out for a little bit!?”

A couple moments later, a familiar face popped up in the doorway, and it wasn’t one Tobio expected.

“Ah, sure!” the kid—wasn’t his name Yamaguchi?—appeared in the same little scarf and hoodie Tobio usually saw him in, the few times he had. This was the kid Sugawara liked to gush about and helped about when he was having a bully problem. The one Sugawara told Tobio that he intimidated so badly.This one who freaked out whenever he saw him. Oh god. “What do you need?”

Shimada nodded over Tobio’s way and sent him once again into a panic. Crap. Tobio had to make a better impression. This time. Okay. Okay. Be cool.

Before he could even smile, Yamaguchi took one look at him and sprinted back out of the store.

Every single fucking time.

 

* * *

 

“U-Up there.” Yamaguchi pointed up to one of the top shelves, where the little jars of pesto were peeking out from behind a barricade of sundried tomato mixes. What the hell, that was nearly impossible for him to catch.

Tobio reached up and inspected one of them. Huh. These were new, he hadn’t seen Shimada Mart sell this brand before but he knew Daichi loved it. He turned to the shaking boy at his side, glancing down the store where the pesto used to be stored. “Why’s it all the way over here?”

“B-Because when the inventory came in we had to re-categorize everything and it all just sort of split up somehow, y’know?” Yamaguchi laughed something equivalent to a sound of a whimpering puppy. “And then with all the prices getting mixed up and we had to put some stuff on the bottom and some stuff just ended up on top and—”

“Hey, hey!” Tobio interrupted the rambling boy. “I don’t get what you’re saying.”

“Oh, I mean… It’s just…” Yamaguchi sighed. “I actually don’t really get it either. Makato-san explained it to me but I mostly just put everything where he told me to.”

“Who’s Makoto-san?” Tobio asked, setting a couple jars of pesto into his basket, finally finished.

“I mean Shimada-san! Uh, he told me to call him Makoto. Or just Dad, but you know, it still feels pretty weird, so I—”

“Wait, you call Shimada-san ‘Dad’?” Tobio asked, and looked back over at where Shimada was writing on something important-looking on his clipboard. He looked just a little older than Daichi. What. He narrowed his eyes.“How old are you again?”

“I-I’m eleven!” Yamaguchi yelped, eying Tobio fearfully. Tobio checked his expression again. God, he couldn’t keep doing that. “Makoto-san’s not my actual dad, but he’s been my guardian for… ten months? eleven months I think, now?”

“Oh,” Tobio replied, looking down at the nervous boy. Yamaguchi didn’t look anything like Shimada, and what had the store owner called him? Tadashi? That sounded like his name. “Do you like him?”

“Oh, Makato-san’s really great!” Yamaguchi said, brightening up. “He lets me help out and doesn’t yell at me, and he and Yuusuke-san watch movies with me! And he helps me out my schoolwork. Oh, he even got me cake on my birthday last month! Isn’t that cool?” Yamaguchi’s eyes shone with admiration for Shimada, an expression Tobio was vaguely familiar with and reminded him oddly of Hinata.

Tobio was taken aback. Mostly because those were things Daichi usually did with him and he wasn’t sure how to take that. On one hand, it assured him that Daichi was a decent older brother, but on the other, it gave him the feeling that Yamaguchi had a pretty skewed idea of what a decent family was like.

Tobio really couldn’t talk, either way.

“I’ve made this friend, her name’s Natsu and she’s really cool and heroic, her dad works a lot so she doesn’t get to see him a lot. But we live right upstairs from the store so I can come down and see him all the time!”

“That sounds… really cool?” Tobio really wasn’t sure how to reply. He wondered what it would be like if Daichi lived above the restaurant. It would probably be his dream setting, non-stop work. “To be honest, I’m not really sure how that would work out that well.”

“Oh, Sawamura-san, right?” Tobio nodded. “What’s your dad like?” Yamaguchi asked, now looking about ten times more comfortable than he did a few minutes ago. Actually, Tobio just felt better knowing that this kid was actually talking to him like a normal person now.

Well, kind of.

“I don’t have a dad,” Tobio replied.

“Oh…” Yamaguchi’s face turned thoughtful. “…So you have two moms?”

That was an… interesting response. “I have a brother. I guess he counts. Our dad left a long time ago. Along with my mom.”

Yamaguchi’s face fell at Tobio’s answer, and Tobio suddenly felt really guilty for bringing up the subject. Dammit, there was a reason Daichi never talked with him about this (even though he couldn’t _fathom_ what it was that he wouldn’t tell Tobio about it), so maybe bringing it up with this kid in the back aisle of a family mart wasn’t such a good idea.

“Oh… I-I, um, sorry for—”

“No, it’s fine,” Tobio reassured the kid, a little desperate for him to not run off again when he had just gotten into a semi-decent conversation with him. “Daichi didn’t actually get me cake today, but we’re going out for curry and stuff soon.”

“You mean…” Yamaguchi jolted up. “Oh, wow, it’s your birthday?” Tobio nodded. “That’s cool, you’re an adult now, right?”

“I’m sixteen,” Tobio replied, blinking at the off-answer.

Yamaguchi cringed, a guilty expression crossing his face once again. Tobio was sure he wasn’t screwing this thing up, his answers were textbook. Still. Change the subject if it gets too bad.

“So… Yamaguchi-kun?”

“Yeah?”

“Shimada adopted you, right? Where were you before that?” Tobio asked, feeling as if it was a good get-to-know-you subject that didn’t deviate too far from the original topic. Yeah. He was getting this.

“Oh, I lived in a lot of places! Before I was here I lived in Fukushima. And before that I lived in Tokyo, and I lived in this prefecture a while back, but in this city…”

“I’ve been to Tokyo before,” Tobio said, remembering Karasuno’s summer trip just a couple months back. He made a face. “They’ve got some… eccentric people there. But the food’s nice, we had a cookout and the meat they had was so good.”

Yamaguchi gasped. “Oh, right? I actually didn’t like Tokyo that much; I got lost on the train a lot. But I loved going out to eat when we actually did that.”

“The teams there are formidable, too,” Tobio said.

“Teams?” Yamaguchi asked, his eyebrows furrowing.

“Volleyball teams,” Tobio clarified, memories rushing back like a current. “There are these guys, Nekoma, their flexibility is like no one else, and they work so fluidly. It makes them so damn frustrating to play against but our team just needs to work on doing what they’re doing because our receivers are shi—”

“Oh, volleyball!” Yamaguchi piped up, practically glowing with excitement. “That sounds like Sugawara-sensei and Hinata-san.”

Wait. Wait. Wait, _what_.

Tobio opened his mouth, and at that exact moment, the store bell rang with the arrival of new customers.

“Hey, welcome back!” Tobio heard Shimada say, and Yamaguchi perked up, spinning around the shelves to check out the newcomers.

“Hello, Shimada-san!”

Tobio froze.

“We’ve come to gather the fair knight!” A young girl’s voice piped up.

Tobio quickly followed Yamaguchi out front, his mind racing with a million thoughts and prayers that the person who just spoke up wasn’t… it couldn’t be....

“I’m not a knight!”  Yamaguchi protested, dashing off to join a redheaded girl that appeared to have just burst in through the doors before stopping in front of the older boy next to her. “H-Hello, Hinata-san!”

Shit. Shit. He was here. Hinata was here, and he knew this kid. When the hell had this happened? When did Hinata get permission to have a little sister that would go and make friends with the one bullied child he happened to know.

But really, Hinata never did anything with his permission, actually. He never had permission to find Tobio one bad summer’s day. To be the only person on the team who was willing to actually work with Tobio from time to time. To play as amazingly as he did. To shine like he did _all the time_ and make Tobio’s heart soar.

Tobio twitched, and quickly looked away.

After the disastrous attempt Tobio had made at conversation, he was actually glad he would have some time to think about this whole thing during break, where he never would have to see Hinata, ever. Except now. Right now. Why was Tobio here again?

Right. Daichi. _Dammit._

“Who’s that you’re talkin’ to, Yama?” Tobio heard the girl ask. She must be Hinata’s little sister, Tobio could see her brother in the way her eyes were fixed on him as if to offer a challenge. He would say he actually admired that if her Hinata wasn’t standing _right there_ in his casually-dressed glory with his eyes trained on Tobio like he had just stepped out of another dimension.

“Oh! Sawamura-san!” Yamaguchi turned back to Tobio’s stone-cold form, not noticing how he may have stopped breathing at some point. “This is Natsu and Hinata-san!”

“Did you find another knight for our circle, Yama?” Natsu asked and bounced excitedly from heel to heel.

“I was just about to get going, actually,” Tobio told them quickly, disappointment washing over Natsu and Yamaguchi’s faces. It almost made him stay. It felt good when people wanted him around.

But then there was Hinata, and well, Tobio really, really had to get going.

“Sorry,” he apologized, before turning his back to the trio and heading over to Shimada at the counter, who gave him a curious look. “I’m in a bit of a hurry,” he told the elder in this most polite tone. He did his best to ignore the hushed conversation behind him, and the feeling of Hinata’s burning stare on his back.

“I got it,” Shimada hummed, quirking an eyebrow at him, and took up the first item.

Tobio didn’t turn back around until they left.

 

* * *

 

The thought of Hinata haunted Tobio back to the restaurant and all the way to the place he and Daichi usually practiced at. The wintertime had never been kind to the little city park, but that never bothered Tobio in the first place. Daichi never seemed to mind either, when he practiced with Tobio like this, even when the ground was stiff and frosted over.

He buried Hinata’s image in the rush of being able to practice with Daichi again.

Daichi sent back a clean receive, straight over to where Tobio was waiting, his hands twitching in anticipation. The moment his fingertips came into contact with the ball, a fire ignited in his stomach and the ball flew.

Daichi just barely spiked to the ground.

“Holy crap, Tobio, tell me when you’re going to do one of those!” Daichi said, shaking his aching hand out.

“Then learn to read what kind of toss I’m going to do! What do you want me to do, call it out?” Tobio argued. It was like all of those months without practice had completely wiped out Daichi’s memory of how to play the game.

But Daichi’s memory was fine; Tobio could tell through their entire afternoon together that his volleyball skills hadn’t deteriorated one bit, and it was one of the best practice sessions Tobio had experienced in a while. Honestly, Tobio would have been offended for anything less from the brother that had taught him the game in the first place.

He could forgive the lack of stamina. A little.

“Watch your power, Tobio,” Daichi said, panting. He was being overdramatic, Tobio felt like he could dominate two games in a row right then. “God, I get the feeling like you’re trying to kill me.”

“You should be able to receive all of these,” Tobio scoffed, and jogged over to pick up the abused volleyball, and spinning it in his hands. “Maybe you just have to practice receiving my serves, did you ever think about that? Come on, Daichi, you used to be able to take on anything I could bring out!”

“Yeah, when you were _five_ ,” Daichi groaned, and stretched himself out. “God, what is Oikawa teaching you?”

“Nothing anymore,” Tobio admitted. Oikawa always gave him these looks whenever Tobio brought up serving practice with him, a cross between annoyance and that look Ennoshita got when Noya came into the restaurant kitchen without permission. “Spring High’s coming up in March, so everything’s about the team.”

“Really, now?” Daichi replied, rubbed his freezing hands. He took one look at the darkening clouds above them and sighed. “It’s almost evening, isn’t it?”

Tobio blinked and looked around for the park clock. Six in the evening already. Just how long had they been out here?

Daichi took one look at Tobio’s distressed expression and chuckled. “It really has been a while since we’ve done this, hasn’t it?”

“And whose fault is that?” Tobio shot back, tossing the ball over to Daichi, who caught it with ease. Tobio huffed. “It’s not that bad. Really.”

Except it kind of was. Tobio always wanted to practice with his brother. He remembered his brother in high school, through the blurry memories of his childhood, back when Daichi was captain and came home late every day in the constant strive to strengthen his team. He remembers the Miyagi Prefecture Tournament, how they had just barely made it on the third set. It had been a moment Tobio would never forget.

And Tobio had thought he would have gone to Aobajousai too, if it weren’t for Mom and Dad leaving.

“Why’d you decide to practice with me today?” Tobio asked Daichi as they gathered up their belongings off the benches.

“Don’t think so lowly of me,” Daichi warned him, shrugging on his coat. “I thought that you being born today was important, and that maybe I was here for something. It takes a little more than waking up one day and realizing that you haven’t played volleyball with your little brother in three months to get something done.”

Tobio pouted and tried to ignore the feather-light feeling in his chest as he slung his bag over his shoulder. He hated it when Daichi said stuff like that.

“Plus, a little birdy told me that you were dead worried about me,” Daichi told Tobio with a smirk. Sugawara-san, Tobio instantly thought, and stopped in his tracks to look up at Daichi’s thoughtful expression. “You know, all you have to do is say something. I know I’m not the best at spending time with you, but even I can be as stupid as you, sometimes.” Daichi let out a whistle. “Maybe it’s in the blood!”

Tobio hit Daichi with his bag, who doubled over and nearly tumbled onto the frosty ground.

“Dammit, Tobio!” Daichi hissed, rubbing his arm.

“Maybe it’s because you’re just plain stupid like that,” Tobio told him, fixing his bag over his shoulder again. “And I’m not as stupid as you are, dumbass!”

“Oh, are you really going to fight your older brother on this?” Daichi shot back, ruffling Tobio’s hair with a force that mirrored the irritation crossed over his face. He then poked Tobio in the side, making the younger yelp. “Respect your elders, Tobio.”

“Don’t you dare,” Tobio warned, backing away from the challenge. Daichi smirked, and Tobio could feel a twinge of playfulness prodding him.

He missed this. When he was five and ripping Daichi’s headphones out so that they could practice together, or when he was eleven and Daichi would go to all of his games.

When he was eight and practically at the center of Daichi’s universe.

That last one still scared him, no matter what changed about the person in front of him.

Daichi opened his mouth to respond, but stopped, his confidence falling off his face at the sight of something on the other side of the park.

Tobio blinked in surprise. Something had torn Daichi’s attention away from him. He turned around, his frustration growing. What the hell would…?

Oh.

Now, Tobio wasn’t too experienced in the joys of romance and dating and shit like that. (Not that he was saying Daichi was a bad example, but Daichi was a very bad example.) He had seen some stuff in movies, just because it was everywhere. He had seen Ennoshita’s giant engagement crisis last year, too. None of it really got him to understand it better, honestly.

Though, he was pretty sure that the grip that that guy had on Sugawara’s arm said nothing about romance.

Not to mention Sugawara was single. And the fact that Tobio was 80% sure he was in love with his brother, who was staring at the scene over on the other side of street with the same kind of face he had made when Tobio first came home with a split lip.

Tobio wasn’t sure Sugawara would have the same kind of trouble talking his way out of this one as Tobio had.

“Hey, Tobio,” Daichi said. “Does Sugawara look mildly irritated with this guy to you?”

Unfortunately. “Yes.”

“Good, I’m not seeing things.” Daichi turned to Tobio and looked him square in the eye. “Follow me, look as yourself as possible, and smile at the guy as soon as he looks at you.”

Tobio gave it a second’s worth of thought before stuffing his hands into his pants pockets and relaxing his face. “Hm,” he grunted.

“Perfect,” Daichi told him, pride glinting in his eyes, before striding through the remainder of the park’s passer-byers and leading Tobio across the street to where Sugawara was.

Daichi had his game face on. This guy was fucked.

“Listen,” he heard Sugawara say, nervousness trailing at his soft voice. “I’m not sure you understand, but…”

“Understand? What’s there to understand—”

“Evening!” Daichi greeted, capturing both Sugawara and the guy’s attention with his most charming smile.

“Daichi!” Sugawara yelped, relief and panic washing over his fact all at once. He tore his arm out of the guy’s as soon as the grip had loosened and backed up immediately, his hand rubbing his once-trapped forearm. “What are you… Tobio?”

“Hey,” Tobio greeted, and noticed the second party’s attention turning towards him. This guy’s face wasn’t actually that bad. If he hadn’t been pulling at Sugawara up until a few moment ago, Tobio would have had a lot of trouble getting mad at him. Luckily, Akaashi had told him how to control his anger very well.

He smiled at the Mystery Guy. The bastard flew a meter away.

“Hey, Suga,” Daichi began and turned to a flustered-looking Sugawara to his right, leaving Tobio to keep his eye on Mystery Guy. “Do you know this guy?”

“Just a…”

“Excuse me,” Mystery Guy interjected, his lip curling. Daichi twitched, instinctively moving between the man was and where Sugawara and Tobio were. “We were having a discussion.”

“Daichi, it’s okay, really…” Sugawara whispered.

“And I’m sure discussions are _hands-off_ activities,” Daichi retorted. He took another step forward, right before Sugawara pulled him back, hissing something to Daichi that made him look even more concerned than Tobio would have wanted.

Yeah, Tobio wasn’t liking this guy any better.

“As much as what’s happened, I do think we’re through here, Hayashi-san.” Sugawara squeezed Daichi’s arm in warning, hard. Tobio could see Daichi’s expression tighten behind the poker face his brother was holding at his best effort. “Thank you for your time.”

“Hmph.” Mystery Guy tried to battle against Tobio’s glare with a straight face and glanced over to Sugawara one last time. “Guess so, I know when I’m not wanted.”

“Ah, no, it’s just…”

Mystery Guy, Haya-whatever, cut him off with a quick turn of the heel and strode away from the three without as much of a goodbye. Hmph, rude. He would have gotten a good one if he had been Daichi’s younger brother.

Tobio pulled his hands out of pockets, feeling oddly proud of himself for using his intimidation to actually help someone. He heard Sugawara sigh, and turned back around to where their friend was standing, disappointed.

“I hate it when they do that…” Sugawara said, still rubbing his arm with a tired look on his face.

Daichi’s expression pinched. “Wait, Suga, don’t tell me this happens often.”

“That was just a bad date! Don’t worry about it,” Sugawara assured him, though Tobio didn’t feel assured at all. He almost didn’t notice the look on Daichi’s face at the word date, either, but then again, he had forgotten a lot of things at that point. _Please, please, let Daichi know Sugawara is gay so that this doesn’t go to hell—_

“Oh, right!” Daichi said, as if realizing something important, and Tobio let out a breath he hadn’t known that he had been holding. “I was just surprised. I… didn’t know you were actively dating people, actually.”

“Were you thinking he was just available?” Tobio suggested as casually as possible.

“Tobio!” Both of them snapped simultaneously, though Daichi was more vigor and Sugawara was more into the blushing and silent signaling of _I am not ready for this please don’t screw this up for me I beg of you, please._

“Hmph.” Tobio looked away. _He didn’t deny it._

“But really, I swear, he wasn’t all that bad,” Sugawara told Daichi, who was still eyeing his new friend with worry. “He was Tanaka’s recommendation, one of the guys who stopped by his and his sister’s store. Hayashi-san was actually pretty polite during the date.” Sugawara paused, caught by a sudden thought. “Well, they get more forward towards the end, really.”

Sugawara shook his head, and neither Daichi nor Tobio was as convinced as either of them probably should have been. Tobio could see the tenseness in Daichi’s shoulders and elbowed his arm hard. Daichi glanced over at Tobio and took a step away from him. At least he had loosened up.

“Anyway.” Sugawara squared his shoulders and taking a deep breath. “What are you guys doing here? Doesn’t somebody have a birthday that needs to be celebrated?” he asked, wagging his eyebrows at Tobio.

“We just finished practice,” Tobio told Sugawara, holding up his bag. Sugawara let out a snort of laughter, which Daichi bumped him in the shoulder for. “We were actually going out to eat soon. For curry.”

“Going out?” Sugawara narrowed his eyes at Daichi and gave him a quick inspection, unsatisfied. “I thought you could cook, Daichi. Does this mean you lied to me yesterday?” he said, poking Daichi on the shoulder playfully. “Don’t tell me the restaurant owner doesn’t even know his stuff.”

“Hey, I cook just fine!” Daichi retorted, and Sugawara held back his laughter once again. Tobio grinned to himself. Just wait until Sugawara found out just how much of an understatement that was. “It’s just that somebody doesn’t feel as if his older brother should make him pork curry and egg for this birthday.”

“Making you cook is like bringing you back to work,” Tobio grumbled, his smile falling as he backed away from the two. “What do you want me to do? Take you away from work on my birthday just to work some more?”

“Tobio, I’m not officially a chef, I just run the place,” Daichi snapped back.

“Why cook when you can play volleyball with me?”

Somehow that broke Sugawara, and he burst out into a fit of laughter that made Daichi go bright red with embarrassment. “Oh, oh my god, I’m sorry,” Sugawara apologized quickly, wiping a tear from his eye as soon as he had calmed down. He let out a breath and relaxed. “Phew! I feel better now.”

He turned to Daichi, a soft smile finally gracing his features, as one should always be. Daichi looked at a loss of what to do.

“Well! Um… thanks,” Sugawara said, rubbing the back of his neck bashfully. “For scaring him off, that is. I guess I’ll have to tell Yui and Tanaka that he was a dud.”

“We’ll vouch for you, don’t worry,” Daichi replied, shaking his head, but putting on a strong expression. “Don’t make me think you can’t look out for yourself.”

“Of course not, boss,” Sugawara teased, and fixed up his coat. “You’re just going to have to put up with my pathetic attempts at dating just like I put up with your ex-girlfriends!”

Daichi cringed at the analogy, and Tobio’s attempts at holding in his laughter must have been horrendous because Daichi smacked his arm pretty quickly.

“Oh! That reminds me.” Sugawara dug into his coat pocket, and pulled out a couple of items. “I wanted to drop by after the date, but I guess I wouldn’t have gotten to see you.” He pushed a small notepad and a soft object into Tobio’s hand. “I found a bunch of notes I used to take while I was a college setter and thought you might appreciate some insight from another player.”

Tobio’s eyes widened, and he flipped through the notepad. Whoa, was this color coded? There were even little pictures of hand signals and some technical notes of Sugawara’s, all neatly organized into this little book.

He marveled at the notepad, his hands itching to play so badly. When had Sugawara put in the time to making this thing?

“I think you broke him,” Daichi said, snapping Tobio out of his thoughts.

“T-Thanks!” Tobio said quickly, shooting Daichi a glare. Good thing he had practiced this with Akaashi earlier. “I… I never thought you would…”

“Well, you seemed to be interested in my work well enough. Not everything I can teach you is in that thing, you know,” Sugawara promised. “Being a setter’s not all about the fancy plays you geniuses have.”

“Finally, someone tells him,” Daichi said, smiling at Sugawara, which Sugawara seemed to appreciate a lot, because he brightened significantly.

Tobio bit back a retort, and looked down at the second object.

“What’s this?” Tobio asked.

“Oh, it’s a sweatband!” Sugawara took the white wristband and slid it onto Tobio’s wrist. “I picked it up today. It’s got a little crow on it too, see?”

Huh, he was right. Tobio stared at the black crow in the middle of the dark stripe that crossed through the wristband. It almost felt too stylish for Tobio’s taste, but the proud look on Sugawara’s face silenced him.

“You didn’t have to,” Tobio said, and he actually meant it. He had been harassing Sugawara for a week and half. They were kind of friends. Did kind-of-friends do this kind of thing?

“I would have been severely disappointed in myself if I didn’t, Tobio,” Sugawara told him politely.

Tobio glanced over at Daichi, who was shifting between staring at Tobio expectantly to make sure he didn’t screw anything up, and sneaking peeks at Sugawara, who was far too excited to notice. Though the teacher immediately thought better of himself and composed himself.

“Anyway, happy birthday, Tobio!” Sugawara told the younger boy. “Be nice to your brother,” he said to Daichi. “Now what are you two still doing hanging around here? Go get your curry before your birthday ends, already.”

Tobio stole one last glance at Daichi and stepped forward. “Do you want to join us?”

Daichi stood up straight, surprised, but Sugawara was more apologetic. He buried his chin deep into the fabric of his scarf in embarrassment. “I don’t want to intrude, really. Besides, I’ve got some things to take care of for today,” Sugawara assured them, running a hand through his light hair as he inched away, hesitant. “Not that I don’t want to, I mean… I-I should really get going.”

“Don’t get into any more trouble,” Daichi warned him.

“I thought I told you not to worry about me,” Sugawara said, though with a faint smile. “But… thank you.” He waved them one last goodbye before heading down the sidewalk and disappearing around the corner.

Tobio looked over to Daichi, who turned back to Tobio with a determined spark in his eye behind the mistiness. “Well?” Daichi said. “You heard him. Behave yourself.”

“He was talking to you,” Tobio argued.

“Shut up, little brother,” Daichi replied, grabbing the strap of Tobio’s bag and pulling him back in the direction of their next destination.

 

* * *

 

Halfway down their neighborhood on the way home after dinner, which went a lot more peacefully than Tobio had expected (but what could you do with two people trapped in the magic of pork curry), and picking the groceries back up from the restaurant, Daichi turned his phone back on. Tobio was actually surprised at the fact Daichi had turned it off in the first place, though he wasn’t as shocked when it went off almost immediately.

“Hold up,” Daichi said, shifting one of the grocery bags on his arm to hold his phone properly, and Tobio stopped just a little ways in front of him. “It’s the shipment guys. Oh, man, we were supposed to talk today.” Daichi dug into his pocket quickly and tossed Tobio the house keys. “You want to run ahead? This could take a little bit. I swear, I’ll be right there.”

“You better,” Tobio said to him, shaking his head. He guessed after curry and volleyball, he could let this one slide. As long as it didn’t turn into some business transaction that would probably be way too out of the restaurant’s league. “You have ten minutes!”

“Fifteen give or take!” Daichi called back, and Tobio grumbled to himself the rest of the way home.

Though, Daichi hadn’t actually been that bad today. Between breakfast and volleyball and Sugawara and curry just now, it had been hard to be truly mad at Daichi at the end of the day. It was a good feeling, the reassurance that Daichi was there. Regrettably.

_It’s easier to hate him when he’s the enemy, right?_

Tobio pushed Akaashi’s words of his thoughts. He could enjoy this. For today.

He approached his house just under the thought, and headed for the front gate before something caught his eye. He stopped, turning down to a small object settled just beneath their name plate.

It was a package. Not too large, but not incredibly small either.

 _Daichi must have ordered something again,_ Tobio thought, and set down some of the grocery bags to pick it up. He then checked the tag, just to figure out just what…

What…

Tobio’s mind went blank.

The first thing he noticed was his name. Not Daichi’s name, Tobio’s name. He never got packages unless they were things Daichi let him order online, which was a very, very rare occurrence, and not one that had happened anytime soon.

The second was the name _Kageyama Youko_ scrawled neatly in the return address.

Tobio stared for a couple more moments, and swallowed the lump in his throat after what felt like a lifetime.

 _Daichi,_ he thought. Daichi was probably going to be heading back at any moment.

Quickly, Tobio set the package back where he found it and unlocked the front gate, heading straight inside his house with the careful open and shut of the door.

.

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

“Dai-nii.”

Daichi stopped at the sound of Tobio’s voice. He turned around, the books from his desk shelves still limp in his hand, and uneasy reassurance fitted across his weary features. “Yeah, Tobes?”

“Mom’s not coming back, is she?”

Daichi’s expression weakened, his hands clenched tight on the books and his shoulders stiff as he struggled to keep composure, like he didn’t know Tobio could see. Taking a steady breath, he set the books down. “No.”

“What about Dad?”

“No.” A small chuckle of uncontrolled laughter escaped his brother, hiding the choked sob between his words. “No, they’re not. I’m sorry.”

Tobio fell silent, lingering by the doorway of his near-empty bedroom. His eyes scaled over the boxes piled between the boxes and scattered remnants of what used to be his house. Their house. Not anymore.

“…Why are you apologizing?” he asked, fingers curling into the end of his crumbled t-shirt. “You just got back. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“That’s not the _point_!” Daichi slammed his hands down onto the desk, and voice rang through the empty walls of the house.

It sent a chill down Tobio’s spine and made his chest twist and tighten.

Daichi’s head shot up not a second later and he turned back over to Tobio, stricken with horror. “I… Sorry, Tobio. I just…”

“S’alright,” Tobio whispered, his voice too small to muster.

Daichi bit his lip and turned away. He picked the books back up off of Tobio’s desk and knelt back down next to the open box by Tobio’s bed to put them in, just as the younger boy had stepped into the room.

“Dai-nii?”

“Yeah?”

“When are you going back to Tokyo?”

Daichi’s hand rested on the edge of the box, his eyes downcast. Tobio felt a sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach. Daichi wasn’t going to say it. He couldn’t. He gave up Spring Tournament in third year to be able to get into that university, he _couldn’t_ —

“I’m not going back,” Daichi replied. “I’m staying with you.”

“No.”

Daichi looked up, his eyes flashing. “No?”

“Go back to Tokyo,” Tobio demanded, his fists clenched.

“Wha… No, absolutely not,” Daichi shot back, only fueling Tobio’s frustration more. “Tobio, I’m not _leaving_ you here, and don’t you dare expect me to.”

“And I said _no_ , you _are_!” Tobio stepped forward, defiant.

“And then what? What happens if I abandon you here, Tobio!?” Daichi retorted, and the look in his eyes nearly driving Tobio back. “Do you want me to go out and, what? _Find_ Dad and Youko? Drop you off with some family friends you barely know? You’re _nine_ , Tobio, you are _not_ going to grow up like this.”

 _Daichi’s scary_ , Tobio thought, _but I can be scary too._ He stood his ground, feet frigid.

“So what if I’m nine?” He asked. “I can take it! You don’t have to tell me I can’t!”

“I don’t care if you’re nine or ninety! I am dropping out, and I am staying here!”

“And I’m saying you’re not!”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, don’t question me on this, Tobio, _please_!”

The final word came out in a cracked tone, under the sound of Daichi’s haggard breaths. His brother, twenty-two and one of the strongest people he ever knew, could barely meet Tobio’s eyes. Tobio could do little more than stand there, watching his brother fall apart in the middle of his empty bedroom.

He inched forward, shuffling towards his older brother until he was close enough to hook his arms around Daichi’s neck and pull him into his small shoulder.

Daichi let out a shudder, clutching his own sides in a pain beyond what Tobio could see. “Hey… Hey, what is this?”

“…Sorry,” Tobio whispered. “You were crying.”

Daichi sighed. “Come on,” he said, and before Tobio could say another word, he found himself being pulled in tight by Daichi’s strong grip, his nose pressed into the fabric of Daichi’s dark jacket. It was warm, and Daichi’s scent filled him, familiar and safe.

“Keep it a secret, alright?”

“Mmh,” Tobio mumbled.

Daichi scoffed, and smirked into Tobio’s shoulder. “That’s my little brother.”

Tobio buried himself into Daichi, curling up tight so that maybe, Daichi wouldn’t hear him cry.

(He did.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alternate chapter summary 'In which 10kkun is a GOD FROM ABOVE' which is actually pretty punny because 10kkun's called Loki and h ah a h. But ten million and one thanks to Loki for pretty much betaing this monster for me I love you dear.
> 
> But anyway tHIS CHAPTER'S LIKE THREE TIMES AS BIG AS THE FIRST CHAPTER YEHA this wasn't supposed to happen I swear but this was a special point of view chapter. Which means back to Suga next time and hOPEFULLY GET TO SOME ACTUAL DAISUGAS and murder this fucking UST. Yeah so much for 3-5 chapters. 
> 
> Also, updated chapter titles and tags. Dont freak out if there's a summary update in the future too.
> 
> Lots of plot and Tobio insight in here and less actual Suga time than I wanted but look at this boy. Look at the Cap. Look at the Yam. Look at the Owl. 
> 
> actually he was really hard to write god i'm going to be so happy to get back to suga.


	6. king of wishful thinking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Sugawara and Daichi trade secrets over painkillers and pictures, Christmas is late, and early resolutions are made.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M NOT DEAD I'M JUST A POOR GIRL FROM A POOR FAMILY [SPARE HER HER LIFE FROM THIS MONSTROSITY]
> 
> No but seriously for everyone here many apologies for the delay I had a bit of a plot crisis but I mostly sorted it out and NOW IT'S WINTER BREAK which means it's GET YOUR SORRY ASS UP AND GET TO THE KEYBOARD LYNN time. ON THE PLUS SIDE it's all nice and organized, ON THE FLIP SIDE it's a lot of shit so yeah??? 3-5 chapters??? wtf it's chapter 6 already we're at like 50K words already stab me in the hand with a fork we're going on a ride kids.

“You’re in college?”

“Third year.” The young man in front of him— Ennoshita, if Daichi remembered correctly— fidgeted slightly. Daichi made a face. He looked as if he would shatter if Daichi raised his voice above the current decibel.

Daichi blamed it on the way he had been so vague when interviewing the poor boy, but was hard to keep the poker face. Though, internally, Ennoshita just being here made it seem as if his string of panicked prayers had finally been answered. He’d finally found an applicant who looked and acted… relatively normal. Well-kept hair, straight posture, and an actual attempt at looking professionally dressed, if a little cheap.

 _Well,_ Daichi thought, _he_ is _a college student_. Not much younger than Daichi himself, too. But Daichi was a slightly less poor college dropout trying to drag his father’s abandoned business out of its own ruins after a year of letting it collect dust. He was also winging the whole single guardian thing by attempting to find a job with nothing but a high school diploma and a failed attempt at a bachelor’s degree, so financial troubles were something he couldn’t really argue against.

“So, Ennoshita.” Daichi set down the applications in his hands and leaned back. “Why?”

“Um.” Ennoshita blinked. “Excuse me?”

“You’re a third year at college at a fairly respectable university, don’t have a criminal record, don’t come from a very bad part of town, but you’re still applying to…” Daichi waved his hand around the half-empty office. “This unnamed restaurant in a backwater edge of the city. Why?”

“I…” Ennoshita bit his lip. “I have… problems.”

“Really? Tell me about them,” Daichi said, leaning forward. Ennoshita grew visibly uncomfortable. “I’m just asking for business’ sake. You don’t have to get personal with me, but unlike you may think, I’m not desperate. I have a pile of applicants who want a piece of the former Crow’s Nest restaurant, but I don’t think too many of them really know what they’re signing up for. This isn’t the same place my dad started up years ago; it’s my restaurant now. If my employees can’t respect that, then they can fly back to where they came from. So.” Daichi raised an eyebrow. “What’s your damage, Ennoshita?”

The startled look on Ennoshita’s face said enough, but Daichi kept him pinned under his gaze. A slight look of offense flashed over his face before he asked, “Um… how old are you again, Sawamura-san?”

“I’m turning twenty three in December,” Daichi explained.

“If you don’t mind me asking… did you… really get expelled from a university in Tokyo?”

Internally, Daichi cringed. Was that the word about him on the streets? That was going to be fun. “No, I pulled out. That’s none of your concern, anyway.”

“Oh.” Ennoshita stared. “You’re… very professional.”

Well, he had to be. “Were you expecting anything else?”

Ennoshita opened his mouth to respond, but seemed to think better of it at the sense of Daichi’s impatience. Cautiously, Daichi told himself to relax. He wasn’t lying when he said he wasn’t desperate for applicants, but Ennoshita was one of the few he actually _called_ to interview for the job. He hoped he wouldn’t scare this guy away.

“N-No sir.” Oh, okay, Daichi liked that. “It’s just that… I’m not looking for just a… job. I want somewhere to start.” Ennoshita glanced up at Daichi, but was only met with a careful nod. Pensive, he continued. “My best friend… His family’s kind of made of money and he’s been letting me bunk with him. I can’t really afford it, but he tells me, ‘Nah, Chikara, just leave it to me. Keep your eyes on your books and stuff, y’know, your own problems,’ and it’s been like that since he could grab the apartment. And honestly, I haven’t really thought too hard about it lately, but there’s…” Ennoshita took a sharp breath. “There’s this… _girl_.”

Daichi winced.

“She’s a year older than me and I think she hates me, but that’s kind of the point. We’ve been at each other’s throats since I first got into college, but she doesn’t make me think about myself the way other… girls do. But, you know, she’s the one person I know will be honest with me and I…” Ennoshita shook his head, and Daichi actually began to feel sort of bad for him, if maybe a little uncomfortable. That strong look in Ennoshita’s eyes made this feel pretty personal.

“Well?” Daichi said at Ennoshita’s pause.

There was another groan as Ennoshita lifted his head up and meets Daichi’s eyes once again. “Agh, okay, the point is that she’s actually kind of an amazing person and she makes me feel like I could be so much more than this and… and I’m sick of feeling sorry for myself all the time. I want to get up every morning knowing that I have my own job and am paying for my own rent and am living my own life. And Noya told me about this place and how you were making something new with it and I needed a new beginning too, so I just thought… maybe…”

Daichi gave a good look at Ennoshita’s hopeful stare. Conviction. That was what was in his eyes. Someone with that kind of attitude should probably be pursing things better than an empty restaurant, especially one under the guidance of someone who might barely be able to hold the place up themselves.

But looking at his face, Daichi couldn’t bring himself to argue. That was the same feeling he got when he told himself he wouldn’t be going back to Tokyo. It made Daichi’s words catch in his throat and drop straight back to where they came from.

“Did I pass?” Daichi shot Ennoshita a skeptical expression and began collecting up his application again as his interviewee fidgeted. “Uh, I mean…”

“I’ll call you,” Daichi told him, a faint smile on his lips. “But you can take that as a yes if you want.”

“Wh… Really?” Did he have to sound so disbelieving?

Daichi rolled his eyes, albeit playfully. “As long as it’s not just to impress a _girl_.”

Ennoshita flushed and gathered his things quickly. “I’m not. Really. I’ve probably been trying to do that for a while now, though. It’s hard to know when you’re in love with someone like her.”

 _Ah_ , Daichi thought. _So that’s how it is_. He laughed to himself and found the edge of a book to be interesting enough to pick at. If it should be more interesting than something like love. He wondered how that happened; sometimes he felt as if he would never know.

It made him want to drag Ennoshita back and get him to help Daichi fix his life, but the way the poor guy was fumbling over himself right now gave him second thoughts.

“I’m not—! I shouldn’t really…” Ennoshita finally won the battle of putting his jacket on before composing himself to face an interested Daichi. “I’m not doing this to impress a girl. I swear. Just…” Ennoshita rubbed his temples and let out a breath. “I’m screwing this up, aren’t I?”

“Shutting up might help,” Daichi told him, as reassuringly as possible. “For future reference.”

“Sorry,” Ennoshita took a deep breath. “Suga said the same thing. I should probably be taking advantage of the fact that he doesn’t resent me like she does.”

“He sounds like a smart guy,” Daichi said, smirking. “And you should get smart too and have a little more confidence in yourself.” Daichi shrugged when Ennoshita just stood there, dumbfounded. “Talk to that girl again. Maybe you’ll find out you’re a lot better than you’re making yourself out to be, Ennoshita.”

“Are you saying that from experience?”

“God, no, I’m shit with women. Get out of here before you catch whatever I’ve been spreading on them. Also, you’re making me sappy. Don’t do that again.”

Ennoshita managed to hold back his laughter with a wobbly smile. With one more proper goodbye and a ‘thanks for your interest’ from Daichi, he was gone, leaving Daichi to slump back into his chair and breathe. Staring up at the ceiling, he stopped and thought that that went a lot better than he expected.

And as far as Daichi recalled, this was the first, but not the last time he would wonder, _who’s Suga?_

 

* * *

 

It was a Friday, and as far as Suga knew, Fridays _sucked_.

Specifically, the Friday after Christmas. One in which Suga spent alone, at home, because he was the sorry soul that had turned down every potential lover his best friend spent the time setting up for him, in favor for the one he couldn’t have.

But also due to the fact that he had spent his Christmas vacation in the city this year, and not back in his hometown.

Which Suga had spent nearly the entire Christmas trying to not think about.

He had ended up spending the entire day with Asahi, who was just as equally lonely, but unlike Suga, was a lot more open about his problems. Or at least, he was a lot worse at hiding them. Not that Suga didn’t mind helping his friend out for the holidays, it was just that Asahi’s problems reminded him way too much of his own, and that may have been a problem when dealing with current Sugawara Trouble #1.

And on Friday, Sugawara was sitting on the floor of the kitchen of Trouble #1, unofficial Sugawara pseudonym of one Sawamura Daichi, who he had been having a little of trouble in not falling for the past couple weeks.

“Kooouushiii,” Yui’s voice chided through his phone. “From what it sound like, you’re having a panic attack in the middle of Chikara’s boss’ kitchen.”

“No!” Sugawara sat up so fast he hit his head on the refrigerator door. “Ow! Okay, but those are completely different, Yui, you know that.”

“True,” Yui replied, thoughtful. “But that doesn’t change the fact that Chikara’s still upset that he got out-drank by Sawamura on his birthday and you were the guy who nearly tripped over his own chair volunteering to take him home.”

“Tobio volunteered me,” Sugawara corrected her, as strictly but softly as possible. Why, oh he knew why, though Tobio’s dedication to the Get-Daichi-and-Suga-Together mission was actually pretty impressive if he was willing to sacrifice his ticket out of the party for a chance for Suga to be alone with his brother. Why did Tobio have to be as noble as Daichi?

He glanced back at the kitchen door. Hopefully, Daichi was still a hallway away on the same couch Sugawara ditched him on to go hide in his kitchen. Suga couldn’t leave, that would have been both rude and stupid, but he also couldn’t go upstairs, like near Daichi’s bedroom, because that would have made Suga want to jump out a window. So he was stuck on the first floor. Where Daichi was. “He was the one who gave me the keys. I didn’t even say yes.”

“But you wanted to.”

Sugawara sank further against the fridge. “I wouldn’t have said no.”

“But this isn’t like taking me home after a celebration party in college,” Yui told him, and then paused. “Let’s put it this way; Koushi, why are you calling me?”

“Well, um.” Sugawara licked his lips. Gosh, they felt so dry all of a sudden. “To say I’m sorry for ditching the party?”

“Oh, okay, that’s actually a pretty good excuse, but not the one I’m looking for. I’m more trying to figure out if you have a crush on my husband’s boss.”

Sugawara bit his lip. ‘Crush’ made it sound so high school. There were much better things to do than remember high school. “Yui, I’ve told you like a million times that I’m not pursuing a relationship with anyone. Why on earth would you think… I have a _thing_ for… a… guy.”

“Well, for one, you’re in hiding in the kitchen of his house instead of nursing him with painkillers and water like the good little Mom you usually are…” (“Stop calling me ‘Mom,’ Yui.”) “…and also, the first thing Chikara said after Tobio gave you Daichi was, “God, Sugawara gets everything _he_ wants and it’s not even _his_ birthday,” and now he’s partially sober and won’t tell me why. So, tell me.”

“God _dammit_ , Ennoshita.” The _one_ person he tells has to have a birthday and drunk-confess everything to his wife. Joyful, joyful.

“Hey, Koushi.” Yui’s voice dropped into a more serious tone, almost hopeful. “What’s the real reason you haven’t been taking up any of your dates? You did specifically tell me one of them went pretty well, but you never told me why you turned down a second date.”

“…I’m not really…” Sugawara sighed. “I’m not interested.”

“Because of Sawamura?”

“No…” Yui clicked her tongue disapprovingly. “Not completely.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“It’s…” Sugawara’s eyes trailed back to the kitchen door. He could feel his heart race through the creeping silence of the household. “He’s not exactly… gay.”

Yui whistled. “Terrible relationship with a straight guy in college and he ruins your life forever, huh? I admit; he was a jackass, but…”

“That’s not it,” Sugawara insisted. “Daichi’s not like… any of the guys I dated in college, really. He’s good. He knows what family feels like.”

“And he’s had a million girlfriends,” Yui sighed, making Sugawara wince, but she hummed, considerate. “That’s really important to you, isn’t it, Koushi? Family. Especially now.”

It was. A lot. “Same goes for you, you know.”

“Shut up, this is about you.” She paused. “I don’t suppose Tobio has anything to do with this?”

“He’s a fan of the idea. Of… Daichi and me.” Sugawara explained. “We’re friends. We play volleyball together.”

“That explains a lot.” Yui took a deep breath. “He’s looking at me like he suspects I’m planning to rob his house. You know, I was wondering why he was so interested in where you worked. Guess I’ve gotta keep better tabs on you next time.” She chuckled, and with a smile evident in her voice: “The kid doesn’t like to say it, but he cares about his brother a lot.”

“Yeah,” Sugawara said, staring at his hands. He couldn’t help but smile back. “They both do.”

“You scared?”

“Kind of,” he admitted. “Yeah.”

“You’re gonna be alright,” Yui told him, her voice soft. “You’re a pretty awesome guy, Koushi. I mean, you made the teenage me see that, and that’s saying something. Plus, he may be a lady-hopper, but he’s not a bad guy.”

“I…” Sugawara swallowed. “I know.”

“You’ve got this.”

Despite the doubt still curled up at the bottom of his stomach, Sugawara managed to take a deep breath and clear his head. “Right. Thanks, Yui.”

“I’m just glad you’re talking to me about your problems.” Yui sighed. “Even if it took you this long.”

Sugawara cringed. “Sorry.”

“Ah, get off the line and go get your stupid drunk man a glass of water, lover-boy.”

“Don’t call him my ‘man,’ he’s not gonna be my man,” Sugawara replied, but brought himself up to his feet anyway. “Bye, Yui.”

“Go get him, tiger.” And everything left after that was the dial tone.

Sugawara just shook his head and stuffed his phone back into his pocket. Strange, he thought he would have felt a lot less enthusiastic about being here after that, but a majority of his anxieties had been washed away pretty cleanly.

With a newfound energy, he spun around and drew his gaze over the near line of cabinets and utensils. It was just now that he became aware of the kitchen island behind him, and the cool feeling of the stainless steel fridge.

“Wow, their place is so much better than mine,” Sugawara said, and began his hunt for a glass.

 

* * *

 

By the time Daichi woke up, Sugawara had spent half an hour sitting on the living room loveseat half-reading a novel he had snagged from the Sawamura’s bookshelf. He had simultaneously been spending the entire time hoping Tobio would come home and save him. Considering the events of the past couple weeks, Sugawara had little faith in Tobio’s desire to return at all. Why ruin such a perfect chance?

He tried to leave as little evidence of himself behind as possible. Coat hung at the door for him to grab, scarf laid neatly next to him on the chair, shoes left far apart from the preexisting ones, the little things he had preoccupied himself with before he fussed up and called Yui to figure out if he should stay or go.

Either way, it wasn’t as bad as Sugawara made it out to be.

Daichi cracked one eye open, saw Sugawara lounging in his seat, and turned over to sit up, pushing the blanket Sugawara had thrown over him off the couch. “This isn’t my restaurant.”

“It would have been kind of cruel to just leave you there,” Sugawara told him, closing up the novel. Wow, he had barely read past the first line. That was pretty sad. He tossed the book onto the coffee table and sat up. “I have to say, I never imagined you as the type to drink yourself out cold like that.”

“Oh, shit.” Daichi pulled himself up and rubbed his eyes. “Sorry, I just… where’s Tobio?”

“Back at the restaurant.” Sugawara hoped it wouldn’t freak Daichi out too much. “Don’t worry, last I heard, Yui had her eye on him. I don’t think there are people there that would just be shoving alcohol into his face.”

Though, it that wasn’t really Sugawara’s greatest concern. Tobio had been acting stranger than usual at the party. He had struck conversations with Noya and Asahi and actually seemed to get along pretty well with them, but he still seemed pretty distracted. Tobio was rather contemplative as someone who primarily spent his time by himself, but he seemed more worried than anything by what Sugawara could tell. He wondered if Daichi had noticed.

“Ennoshita’s having a birthday bash alone at my restaurant?” Daichi asked, slow, but shocked. The look on his face made Sugawara feel as if they had just abandoned Tobio on a mountain and wow, Ennoshita wasn’t kidding when he said Daichi treated that place like it were his own child. 

Sugawara stood up. “Oh, um, since you’re awake now, I can go and—”

“No, I—” Daichi hissed and clutched his head, making Sugawara cringe. He’d had hangovers like twice in his life, but they still hit him full-on. Without another thought, he made his way over and passed Daichi the glass of water he had grabbed earlier. Daichi took one look at it and took a moment before taking it, surprised. “I… Thank you,” he said, and downed the drink.

“Better?” Sugawara asked.

“Extremely embarrassed, but yes.” Daichi chuckled and slouched back in his seat. “Did I win?”

Sugawara snorted with laughter and crossed his arms. “That’s what you’re worried about?”

“If I drank myself into oblivion and left my brother at one of my longtime employee’s birthday raves then I would want to know if it were worth it,” Daichi told him, and Sugawara smirked.

“I guess it would be mean to tell you that you didn’t,” Sugawara replied, and cleared his throat. “Congratulations, Sawamura Daichi, on out-drinking his beloved co-worker at his birthday party. You’ve won the loss of your pride. But at least it’s still better than whatever Ennoshita got.”

“That was the plan.” Daichi chuckled. “If I didn’t know him as well as I did I would probably be sprinting over hoping the place hasn’t gone up in flames. I’m not sure which of us is luckier that he’s such a good employee,” he said, just as Sugawara took his empty glass. “Oh, god, you really don’t have to—”

“You keep telling yourself that,” Sugawara told him, and pushed Daichi back into the couch. Then he reached down and tossed the blanket back over Daichi. “Have yourself a merry little post-Christmas relaxation time in the process, why won’t you, Daichi?”

Daichi stared back up at him, and Sugawara shot him a smile and left before he dissolved into a panicked mess and said something incredibly stupid.

He was back soon enough, with another glass and a hot cup of tea he had made himself just to stall the process even further. Not that it changed the outcome, it wasn’t like Sugawara had escaped out the window (though not without contemplation of the idea), but he did need some tea. Besides, he needed to face up to these feelings anyway. No use in fretting over them, after all.

“Hope you don’t mind.” Sugawara held up his mug as he passed Daichi his second glass, along with painkillers by the side table. Daichi was all too happy to accept them and down them both.

“Not at all. Tobio’s the real tea enthusiast in this house. Not as much as his love of fruit milk, but I’m sure he wouldn’t mind sharing.” _If he knew what was good for him_ , Daichi left unsaid. Luckily, Sugawara knew Tobio well enough that he was sure he wouldn’t get chewed out for stealing from his tea stash. “Oh, I should turn on the fireplace—”

Sugawara was quick enough to snatch the remote right from under Daichi’s gaze and click the fireplace to life. He sighed in relief. At least he didn’t pick up the fan remote or something weird. Suppressing his pride, he turned around to give Daichi another look to stay in place.

“I’m not going to be moving for a while, am I?” Daichi said.

“And he finally gets it,” Sugawara replied.

Daichi shook his head, and scooted over to one side of the couch. He raised an eyebrow at Sugawara’s lack of response. “Well? Sit down, Suga. If I’m going to be captive here for the next couple hours then it’s much better with company.”

Ah, right, company. A concept Yui believed Sugawara was in the process of re-learning. He took one more look at Daichi’s expectant expression, and decided it was a lot better than standing around for ten minutes wondering what to do. “If you insist,” he said, and took the free seat.

Daichi seemed to notice Sugawara’s stiffness anyway, because he shot him a reassuring smile. “My company can’t be that bad. Unless you’ve been absorbing everything my brother tells you and really do think I’m just a workaholic nutcase.” He stopped for a moment with the thought. “I’m not. Honestly. I have a life, I swear.”

Sugawara scoffed, and told himself to relax. “I believe you,” he said, taking a sip of his tea.

With another deep breath, Daichi shook his head and gave Suga a thoughtful look. “Do you really? I’m not exactly the most exciting guy in the world.”

 _I want to know_ , Sugawara thought, staring at Daichi. He could say that, sure, he couldn’t _be_ with Daichi, but he wanted to be a part of his life. A part of the Sawamuras’ life.

There was a strange, magnetic-like force that drew him into their lives, when he heard Tobio talk about what his brother had done for him, or complained about how much he wanted to help Daichi no matter what words he used. Or all of the things Ennoshita and Asahi have said about him back when Sugawara thought Daichi was a tattooed hulk with an ultimatum against fun but a heart of gold.

And then he met Daichi, who just made Suga keep wanting to come back after every let-down. He couldn’t tell Daichi it was because of his charm, the way he could make Sugawara laugh so easily. Or the way he could be so uptight yet get just as excited as his brother at the mention of the word ‘volleyball.’ Or his random acts of nobility like saving young men from terrible dates all while trying to give his brother an awesome birthday. And how Daichi knew how important it was to look after people.

It wasn’t enough, just stopping there with what he knew, and there wasn’t any reason to give up now.

“Well,” he began, shifting in place to face Daichi. “Maybe I could call up one of your hundreds of girlfriends and ask them just how exciting your life can get.” Sugawara smirked at Daichi’s petrified face. “Or did they leave you because you were such a boring guy?” he teased

Daichi blushed, and sulked back into his blanket bundle while giving Sugawara a cautioning glare. Sugawara couldn’t help but snicker at that, even when Daichi punched him lightly in the shoulder. “If you let me get up, I’ll show you something that can change your mind.”

Sugawara narrowed his eyes with suspicion. If there was anything he had low faith in with Daichi, it was his ability to take care of himself. At his silence, Daichi turned surprisingly considerate.

“Do you take care of people like this all the time?” he asked, suddenly, and Sugawara gaped.

“Oh, um, kind of.” Sugawara felt his laugh turn weak. “I’ve been taking care of people for so long that it’s just second nature by now. It sort of happens when you’ve got people like Yui and Asahi to take care of.

Daichi let out an understanding “Oh,” and thought about it. “Well, Yui, at least, is a kind and capable woman. Ennoshita got incredibly lucky.” He sighed contently, as if basking in a favorable memory.

Sugawara laughed harder this time. “Well, she is now _._ She still doesn’t hold back at calling kids assholes.”

Daichi’s expression fell.

“When the situation is appropriate.” Sugawara added quickly.

“You’ve known each other for a while, huh?” Daichi asked, finishing off his glass.

“Yeah,” Sugawara said. “Since high school.”

“Huh…” Daichi said. “Must be lonely living without her after so long.”

Sugawara paused. Huh, even Daichi noticed something like that. The considerate look in his eyes was all too knowing. “Yeah,” Sugawara replied, trying to keep the downcast tone out of his voice.

Daichi stared at him for a moment, and for a moment, Sugawara thought he was going to tell him something more personal but instead, Daichi just gave him a reassuring smile.  “I’m gonna show you that thing. Hopefully, it’ll make you feel better.”

“Does it have anything to do with your girlfriends?” Sugawara replied, suspicious. Daichi couldn’t just avoid the subject that easily.

Daichi just rolled his eyes, though he kept his smile. That made Sugawara feel better, and made him forget about wanting to leave altogether. “As a matter of fact, yes,” he said, so Sugawara didn’t hold him back when he threw his blankets off and got up. “Come on, it’s just upstairs.”

Well, there was no more reason to argue. Sugawara finished off his tea and got up to follow him.

 

* * *

 

The Sawamura household was suspiciously devoid of any Christmas décor, which disappointed Sugawara as he followed Daichi to the second floor. He had hoped there would be more Christmas cheer around this particular family. The restaurant did have a considerable amount of decoration, but Sugawara guessed that wasn’t actually an effect of Daichi’s enthusiasm toward the holiday.

Still, the house was actually pretty well-kept. Traces of both brothers could be seen scattered around the rooms and halls; Tobio’s books that covered the table tops and counters, energy drinks littered around the kitchen island, several worn cooking magazines that were undoubtedly Daichi’s, all the way to the pictures that lined the walls, revealing bits and pieces of the Sawamuras’ lives.

Sugawara gave them a good look as he passed by. It was hard to pick out any from their younger years. There was one in particular that caught his eyes, with a teenage Daichi in his high school uniform and a considerably smaller Tobio on a familiar couch. Sugawara blinked in surprise at the carefree feeling of the photo, with Tobio hung over the top of the top of the couch and trying to peek at something Daichi was reading, looking over the shoulder of his annoyed brother.

Unfortunately, Sugawara had no time to appreciate the interesting timeline, and quickly moved along to catch up with Daichi down the hall.

Daichi led him to a room at the left end of the hall, which Sugawara was surprised to find was Tobio’s. The hung uniform, sports duffel, piled schoolwork, and mess of books was enough to tell Sugawara that. He lingered next to Daichi cautiously.

“Are you sure we’re allowed in here?” he asked. From everything he had learned about Tobio, he was sure he wasn’t the kind who liked his privacy invaded. He wasn’t sure how that worked with Daichi, but sadly, he knew Tobio wasn’t comfortable sharing everything with Daichi.

Daichi patted his shoulder. “Don’t worry, I don’t snoop. Tobio just keeps this thing in here because he doesn’t like people he doesn’t trust finding it.”

He made his way to the edge of the bed and dropped down to grab something from underneath it. The moment the small cardboard box came into sight, Sugawara knew what was coming.

“Oh no,” was all he could say without laughing.

“Tobio doesn’t like my girlfriends looking at this even though it’s basically a good introductory tool,” Daichi explained. Sugawara caught the amused look in his eyes as Daichi handed him the box. “Not that I would like to show it to them. Showing your girlfriend your brother owns something that signifies how bad you are with relationships isn’t exactly the way to start one.”

“So I’m special because I’m not your girlfriend?” Sugawara asked. At least something good came out of that.

“You’re special because Tobio likes you,” Daichi told him honestly, and, ah, yeah, there was that too.

Sugawara suppressed the sudden giddiness and the _Aw, you’re special, Sugawara_ , feeling, and lifted up the box to give it a good examination, only to nearly burst out laughing. “Oh, you weren’t kidding.”

“About what?”

“The ‘Single Daichi’ box part,” Sugawara said and turned the face of the box towards Daichi. “If my elementary teaching skills serve me right, I believe that’s Jazzberry crayon?”

Daichi opened his mouth to say something, but clamped it back shut. “…It’s an old box,” he mumbled, ignoring Sugawara’s futile attempts at containing his amusement. “Oh, come on.” He then led Suga back out of Tobio’s room and back down the hallway.

 

* * *

 

Over the course of the next half-hour, the kitchen table was cleared and the contents of the Single Daichi box came tumbling out. It wasn’t a big box; if was true that the only think Tobio had kept in this thing was a volleyball at one point, then it would have probably taken up the entire box.

But it was enough. Pictures, energy drinks and oat bars, worn pamphlets to various parks and places, a deck of cards, a beaten old sketchbook, some ancient food magazines of the same brand he found in Sawamura’s living room, a pair of kneepads, a DVD of _Akira_ , and, left untouched, a small white box left in the corner that neither of them mentioned since Daichi ruled on leaving it alone.

The pictures held the most magic, if Sugawara’s opinion held any weight. They spent most of the time going over the small stories that they held, even the recent ones. Sugawara even recognized a couple from the wedding, and made fun of the one of Daichi and his bitter cup of coffee that Tobio had shoved into his hands right before the ceremony. Though Daichi hadn’t confiscated that one as quickly as the Halloween pictures.

“They remind me of myself. The things in here, I mean,” Daichi explained to him as Sugawara flipped over the DVD box. It had clearly been used a lot, with the missing leaflets and dented over. He handed it back over to Daichi, who looked at it fondly. “Oh, this was my favorite movie back in high school. I was more into supernatural hijinks than business back then.”

“More than volleyball?” Sugawara inquired, holding up the kneepads.

“Ah, no way,” Daichi said “Those are old, like middle school old. But that was when I first started the game, so Tobio finds that important when it comes to sentimentality.”

“Which it is,” Sugawara told him, and set them right in front of Daichi. “Don’t think I don’t realize how much you love the game. The love of a captain stays with the captain, doesn’t it?”

He picked up a stray team picture that Daichi had been describing earlier, and his companion marveled at the memory. “I wasn’t even the best on the team,” he confessed.

“Too busy taking care of the actual best?” Sugawara inquired, and Daichi agreed just as easily has he expected. He knew what _that_ felt like, especially playing with people like Noya.

Daichi just shook his head, and then turned to the box between them. “It’s been almost two months since I’ve opened this thing.”

“Wait, really?” Oh, okay, Sugawara hadn’t expected that. He was met with an offended look from Daichi and held up his hands in defense. “It’s a justified reaction. With the rumors I’ve heard about you…”

“Fine, I guess I deserve that,” Daichi accepted, giving Suga a good sense of victory. “Not all my breakups need this box, you know. Tobio can’t play therapist to me all the time. ”

Right, yeah, maybe Sugawara was a little quick to judge every breakup with this box. His dating life had been nothing like Daichi’s, after all. “What does that mean, then?” Sugawara asked. “It’s been smooth sailing since that girl from the wedding?”

Daichi blinked, surprised, but Sugawara beckoned him to answer. He gave in easily. “I had broken up with someone just before then, but she wasn’t the one who called. I usually don’t stay in contact with my exes, but…” Daichi gave him a pointed look. “…it’s not like they hate me.”

“If you say so,” Sugawara replied. He believed him, kind of. Maybe he was biased, but Daichi wasn’t the type to be hated. If he didn’t count the rumors of him that had turned Daichi into a mobster, then, yeah, he could see that. “So you haven’t needed it?”

“I just haven’t dated anyone else since then.” Sugawara stopped then, shocked. Unaware of Suga’s actual realizations, Daichi huffed. “I don’t actually have a girlfriend every month, you know. Tobio exaggerates.”

“No, I just…” _Thought you kind of picked up girls all the time and maybe you’ve had one or two since we first met and maybe that was me just trying to convince myself how unavailable you are but it’s kind of ridiculous isn’t it? Or maybe it was also me trying to like you less, but then Tobio came in and all of that went down the drain and well, sucks for me, huh? Or not. Well, you’re still straight._ “…got…the wrong impression.”

“Oh, god, did you really think that?” Daichi said, suddenly panicked. “I’m not a pimp, really. Shit, I don’t want you to think that.”

“Yeah, you’re too busy not having a life to be a pimp,” Sugawara joked as he leafed through the stray pictures.

“That’s true,” Daichi replied, and snagged the sketchbook before Sugawara could touch it, much to Sugawara’s annoyance. “You don’t want to look at this.”

“If drawing is amongst your hidden talents—”

“Oh, trust me, Tobio uses this to remind me how bad I am at things,” Daichi told Sugawara with a straight face, and stashed the book right back into the box.

“And I’m assuming that helps?” Sugawara guessed.

“No, it’s so I can fight him for it and forget about my actual problems.” Daichi thought for a moment. “Which does help, actually.”

Like that time Tobio put alcohol in this box, Sugawara remembered. These brothers sure had a strange way of communicating.

As he settled back down, Sugawara’s eye caught one more photo, hidden beneath the cluttered pile. He slid his hand over and pulled it out from the stack, meeting the gentle eyes of a young woman.

Daichi stopped in his movements, and automatically relaxed when he saw her face. Her dark hair was bundled up in a sloppy bun, and her strict face pulled into a tight smile, as if she were doing her best to pose. She was kneeling at a coffee table, legs pulled underneath and light skin illuminated against the warm glow of the fireplace behind her. She was working, pen in hand and papers scatters from table to the floor.

It was an old picture, much older than the rest. Much older than Tobio, Sugawara guessed.

 _She looks like you_ , Sugawara wanted to say, but couldn’t bring himself to say anything else amongst the fragile silence.

He ended up collecting it up with the rest of the pictures as they packed the box back up. Though the thought still made him wonder.

Eventually, after storing the box away and giving his final condolences to Tobio’s therapy boxset, he met Daichi out on the front step to leave. It felt right to leave since it was so late, but at the same time, almost inappropriate. But he had to leave at some point.

“Sorry for keeping you here,” Daichi said, as they stepped out into the winter evening. “Tobio’s gonna be back soon and he just fought through a party by himself, so…”

Tobio would probably be happier if they had left together, but Sugawara probably shouldn’t mention that. “No problem,” he told Daichi instead, and reached up to tighten his scarf, only to find his neck empty. “Wow, okay, I should probably…”

“Go ahead,” Daichi told him, and Sugawara apologized quickly before running back inside.

 

* * *

 

As soon as Sugawara grabbed his scarf from the couch, the phone rang.

The most sensible thing to have done was go outside and call Daichi so he could answer it. After all, his house, his calls. But then again, he thought, _Tobio_. Who was still out a party at that Sugawara still felt guilty for ditching him at.

His second thought was _emergency_ , which became, _Tobio has an emergency_. Did the place actually catch on fire? Did he have some weird allergic reaction Sugawara had never heard of? Did someone trip down the stairs and break their neck? Did somebody get pregnant?

Daichi probably should have been the one who would care the most if that was the case, but for some reason, it was Sugawara who had immediately snatched the up the phone.

He didn’t even have time to speak before he was proven wrong.

 “Hey there! Almost thought you’d make me leave a message there, you jerk.”

That didn’t sound like anyone Suga knew. Some sharp-toned woman whose voice seemed to cut through the speaker. “…Hello?”

“Huh? ‘Lo?” There was a dissatisfied hum from the other end. “Shit, I mixed up the 9 and 6 again, didn’t I? Wait, is this the Sawamura’s?”

Sugawara sighed. Strange friends that Daichi had. Not that Sugawara had the right to say that. At least it wasn’t Tobio calling in a panic. “Don’t worry, you’ve got the right place. You want Daichi, right?”

“Oooh,” the woman replied, and then louder: “Oooooohh!!”

Sugawara paused and looked at the phone, as if it would morph into the face of whoever was speaking on the other end. It didn’t, and honestly, Sugawara wasn’t sure if he wanted to know. Slowly, he glanced back at the hall for Daichi, maybe he had heard and come back inside. When he saw no one, replied again with, “…Excuse me?”

“You’re Koushi-kun!” the other voice laughed. “You sound different when you’re not threatening me. What are you doing picking up Daichi’s phone calls, you dog?”

It was hard to speak at that moment. Sugawara’s train of thought had flipped off its rails and currently lay burning in a ravine, so it took him a moment before any thought could catch up with him. Eventually, it dawned on him, and still had no idea what to say except for: “…Wait, Mizushima?”

“What’s up kid! Kid? Can I call you that? How old are you even?”

“Um, I’m twenty-seven.”

“Fuck, you look young. That’s the same as me.” Yuri grumbled something incomprehensible, and before Sugawara could finally get a word in, she continued with, “Well, Daichi always liked them pretty. And hey! You’re pretty enough. Not as pretty as me, but you know, for a guy. Does it count if I admit a guy is prettier than me?”

Yuri sounded… a lot different than Sugawara had initially shaped her out to be on Sunday. Maybe it was because of the lack of deadly heels and overconfident expressions on her painted face, but she sounded a lot less threatening over the phone. “I think… I think you’re fine.” And then something occurred to him. “Wait, what did you mean that Daichi likes them pretty?”

“…Aw, shit. Nevermind.” This woman was not helping with Suga’s paranoia, but he decided not to press on it in favor of ending the conversation before Daichi came in.

He decided that saying “What” again wouldn’t make him seem as witty has he wanted to be around Yuri, so he went with, “Did you want to talk to Daichi? I can take a message if you want.” _From the infamous ex-girlfriend_.

“Infamous?” Dammit, he said that out loud! “Hey, don’t worry about lil’ old me, Koushi-kun! Your Daichi may be a lady killer but he’s not a total heartbreaker. Most of the time. I’m actually his longest ex-girlfriend. Since the restaurant’s youthful days. Recooord.”

Sugawara had no idea how to take that. His mouth seemed to form words, yet make no sounds. Weird. “He’s not my Daichi.” He finally said. “What… What does any of that mean?”

“It means we’re friends, Koushi-kun. Don’t you worry your pretty little head! I haven’t touched the guy in years, trust me.”

“Tobio didn’t really seem to agree,” Sugawara mentioned.

“Yeah, well, the Little Sawamura hates all of Daichi’s girlfriends. You know, except you.”

Sugawara blinked, dumbfounded. “That’s not… why do you keep thinking I’m his girlfriend?”

“ _Shit_. Wow, I’ve gotta shut up. Hey, does Daichi know you’re gay?”

Sugawara nearly bit his tongue trying to form an answer for that. Why do women keep on just _knowing_ that? “He does, I don’t keep it a secret,” he replied, trying to keep his tone as ambiguous as possible. He had no idea how to act around Yuri, really. “Mizushima?”

“Yeah?”

“Did you want something?”

“Nothing too important. You keeping him busy?”

Sugawara’s mouth twitched. “Sorry to disappoint, but I was just leaving.”

“Shame.” What did that even _mean_? “Hey, hey, no need to get riled up on me.”

Did he say that out loud again? Sugawara slapped away the flush that rose to his neck. “You’re not exactly being the most articulate person in the world right now.”

“Don’t use your fancy words on me.”

“Articulate is not a fancy word.”

“No! It reminds me of college. I hated college.” Sugawara smirked. “Don’t get cocky on me, pretty boy. Listen, you’re taking care of that guy, right?”

That was sudden. Sugawara’s face twisted with confusion. “Um…” _I want to._

“Well, you probably are if the little guy likes you so much.” Could Tobio really be considered little? “But you care about the guy. Both of them. That means I like you.” She laughed. “Awesome! He’s going to be so mad when he figures out I’m talking to you!”

Sugawara shook himself out of his daze. “What?”

“But seriously,” Yuri continued, her tone dropping. “That guy’s got some major issues with looking after himself. Needs someone to do it for him since he’s too stupid to do it himself. He’s looking; he’s just really shit at finding the right person.”

Sugawara found that really hard to argue against.

“Which is why I’m rooting for you, buddy. You seem like a pretty cool guy. Who knows! Maybe you’ll help Daichi sort out his issues enough to help him see that.”

“I hope.”

Sugawara bit his tongue down hard the moment he heard Yuri’s laughter echo through the telephone speaker. “You didn’t mean to say that out loud either, did you, Koushi-kun?”

“Is that all, Mizushima?” Sugawara asked instead of affirming.

“That is all, thy royal prince of Sawamura-land.” Seriously, what went _on_ in her head? “Just keep doing whatever you’re doing! Daichi seems to like it. He’s been like completely trippy since the wedding, y’know.”

“Wait, what?” Sugawara said for like the hundredth time

“ _Shit_! I’ve gotta stop that. Yeah, okay, bye!”

Sugawara didn’t even get to put another word in before Mizushima left him with the dial tone. All Suga could do then was put the phone back in its place and stare, wondering what just happened.

 

* * *

 

 

“Oh, you made it,” Daichi said when Sugawara finally emerged from the household. He shot Suga a teasing look, faking contemplation. “For a moment there I was wondering if you had decided to bail and escape out the back window.”

“Um.” Well, he didn’t think about it _this_ time. Sugawara wrapped his scarf snugly around his neck and curled himself into the warmth of his coat. Though it was nice to see him be so comfortable around Suga. “Sorry, phone call.”

“You never know, it’s been a while since I’ve had friends over,” Daichi replied, and, oh, friends. Well, what else would they be after an evening like that? The thought gave Sugawara a childlike joy. Daichi took one look at his giddiness and scoffed. “Come on, do look so surprised.”

“Oh, no, it’s just that,” Sugawara laughed nervously. “I don’t actually have a lot of… close friends.”

“Liar,” Daichi said, but stopped when he saw Sugawara’s guilty face. “Really? We were just with plenty of your friends back at the Ennoshita’s party. You seemed to know plenty of them. It makes me wonder why I’ve never seen you there before.”

“Oh, um.” That was… difficult for Sugawara to respond to. His mind went blank for a second.

God, it had been months since he had actually gotten down and talked to someone about this, and he wasn’t sure if he was ready to start now.

Though, oddly, his chest didn’t have the same weight as it did before. It was much easier for him to dig into his pocket and pull out his phone to search for the photos he kept deep within his gallery.

Sugawara gave the picture a good look, took a breath, and held it up for Daichi to see. “I guess that would be because of my dad,” he said.

Daichi’s eyes widened, and he reached out to take the phone, only to draw back as if he might break it. “…He’s your dad.”

“Adopted,” Sugawara explained. “Last foster dad in the system. Yui, Asahi, and I used to live in a smaller town north from here. I used to see him during the holidays.”

“I heard,” Daichi said, and stopped at Sugawara’s visible confusion. “Oh, I mean, I saw him at the restaurant before. With Yui, before the wedding, but—” Daichi bit his lip. “Um, you don’t have to…”

“Oh, no! It’s fine,” Sugawara told him, and took another good look at the photo. The hurt was still there when he looked at it, but something felt… lighter, this time. “I need to learn how to talk about him.”

“…Right,” Daichi replied, and seemed to grow more thoughtful. Or conscious, if Suga could read him right. He wondered what he had reminded Daichi of. “Was he also a Sugawara?”

Suga shook his head. It was hard to imagine the person here being a Sugawara, with the dark frazzled hair and box glasses. “No, no. His name was Takeda,” Sugawara replied, and flipped to the next picture. “Takeda Ittetsu. I was fifteen, supposed to go in with his sister’s family, but… things fell through.” Sugawara smiled to himself sadly. “I’m not that upset about it, though. I stopped calling him Takeda a while ago.”

“He must have been pretty incredible,” Daichi said, sympathy in his tone. “Yui and Ennoshita delayed the wedding because of him, as I heard.”

Ah, yeah, the reason Yui didn’t have the summer wedding that she wanted. “Well, I would have never met Yui without him,” Sugawara explained. “We had both been part of the foster system, Dad… Takeda encouraged me to talk to her.” The memory made Sugawara chuckle. “She hated my guts; Yui wasn’t exactly the lovable type she is now. She was also my first friend.”

“Really? Go Takeda,” Daichi said, and bumped shoulders with Sugawara. “He sounds just like the kind of person who would raise someone like you.”

“Yeah,” Sugawara echoed, and it felt a lot better about everything he had said about Takeda already. “Go Dad.”

Daichi peeked over Sugawara’s shoulder at the next picture, catching the faces of Yui, Sugawara, Asahi, and Takeda bunched up into the frame. “Who’s that?” Daichi asked, pointing to the

“That’s Ukai,” Sugawara explained, and flipped to the next picture that just held Ukai and Takeda in front of the little countryside store. “Uncle Ukai. I think Takeda’s death hit him pretty hard. I haven’t heard from him since the funeral. But he was Dad’s friend, coached our volleyball team. Takeda was our advisor.”

“Oh, you mean he was a teacher?” Daichi asked, and glanced at Sugawara.

“Well, yeah, he was!” Daichi smiled at Suga knowingly, which made him fidget. It was a pretty transparent fact, anyway. “I… I did become a teacher because of him. Not because he was one too, though he did give me a bunch of advice for that. But… mostly because he made me realize that taking care of people is what I can do best.”

“I think a lot of people have to thank him for that,” Daichi said, and then sighed, letting out a white puff of winter breath. “If you don’t mind me asking…”

Sugawara shook his head. “Oh, no, it’s fine.”

“It’s just that, Ennoshita never mentioned it when he told me,” Daichi continued, hesitantly. “How did he die?”

Sugawara pursed his lips, and with one simple movement, turned off his phone. “Store robbery, back home. He was a casualty. It was…” Sugawara took a breath. “The week before he was supposed to arrive in for the wedding. He was buying gifts from home to bring us.”

Neither of them spoke a word to follow up on that for a moment, only filled by the empty acknowledgement and bitter breeze of the winter evening that swept through. Sugawara’s thoughts were blank then, nothing coming, nothing going.

Eventually, Daichi broke the silence. “You don’t have to… force yourself to accept it so easily,” He said. “I miss them sometimes, too. My parents.”

That caught Sugawara’s attention, and he remembered Ennoshita’s words. Daichi’s parents. The taboo subject. He sucked in a breath and turned to look at Daichi’s face. Unreadable, but solemn. It fell into something much gentler when he turned to meet Suga’s eyes.

“They left, a long time ago,” Daichi explained. “My mom died when I was in middle school, but Dad and Youko, Tobio’s mom… And I shouldn’t miss them, after what they did, but… you know.”

“It’s hard,” Sugawara said for him.

Daichi was silent for a moment, one of quiet agreement. He nodded, so slightly Sugawara barely even caught it. “I was at college when they did, and after spending so many years taking care of Tobio I just… I could never imagine why they would want to leave him.” He sighed. “I guess you’re stronger than me, facing up to a loss like that. My dad doesn’t even deserve it, but I still never got over mine.”

 _Untrue_ , Sugawara thought, because he could never imagine being stronger than Daichi, going through something like that by himself. He still stayed up for nights wondering what he should do with his life, watching the days pass by with little acknowledgement.

Facing up to it wasn’t easy, in Suga’s mind, but figuring out what to do after that was even harder. He envied Daichi for having someone like Tobio in his life for something like that, even if he didn’t realize it.

“Does it get any easier?” Sugawara asked, turning to another picture. “Like with your mom?”

“I’ve learned how to move on,” Daichi said. “The picture of that woman you saw in the box, Tobio shows that to me so I don’t feel like I’m forgetting her.” He gave Suga a reassuring look. “So… I’m not really the best person to get advice from, really, but looking at her always reminded me that I have people who need me. And, god, there are plenty of people who need you, Suga. Yui, Asahi, Tobio…”

Daichi’s mouth fumbled over the next name, but Sugawara just motioned him to stop before he hurt himself.

“Alright, alright, I get it,” he laughed appreciatively, feeling a smile fit around his face. It was nice to know he could finally do that while thinking about Takeda. “Thank you,” Sugawara told him, and stashed away his phone. Daichi hummed in acknowledgement. Suga finally shook his excess thoughts away and took a look at the dark evening setting. “And… Jeez, sorry about that, I just… I should get going.”

Sugawara finally stepped down to the walkway and pulled himself towards the exit, only to be stopped by Daichi’s voice.

“Hey,” Daichi began, carefully. “Suga?”

Sugawara’s feet stilled immediately, and he looked back. “Yeah?”

There was a slight pause as Daichi searched for the words to say. “Thanks for… staying. I guess I need someone to remind me that I’ve got a life too.” He stuffed his hands in the pockets of his coat and met Suga’s gaze. “Do you think we can meet like this again? I wasn’t kidding when I said it had been a while since I had friends to… well, talk to.” _Especially like this_ , he left unsaid. He shot Suga a weary smile. “And, um, I think Tobio would like it too. It’s hard to meet people like you.”

Sugawara stared for a couple moments, unsure of how to respond. Answers came and fled from his mind, but if anything, he couldn’t imagine saying no.

The corners of his mouth twitched as he fought against a grin, though it was futile in the end, anyway. “As long as you actually cook for me next time,” he told Daichi, who grumbled. “I want to know where all of those rumors I hear from Tobio come from, you know,” and _what are you doing suggest him to_ cook _for you, Suga, you are so, so, so dead_.

Daichi, deaf to Suga’s internal monologue, just rolled his eyes and laughed. “Only because you’re so forward about it.”

Yeah, Sugawara thought as he turned to leave. He could totally do this friendship thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> idk about you guys but i'm really excited to get to all of the upcoming stuff because gUESS WHAT it's the end of an arc so get ready for a short time skip and the movement onto some new faces and new places and hopefully some damn answers
> 
> So?? How many chapters do I think this thing will be?? About 20. I say about because it could be a little more or a little less, but around that range. But get ready for a shitton of characters you never asked for because I got really exited in my time off-story so [pulls up pants] let's get wrecked.
> 
> And??? UM????? THANKS EVERYONE FOR THEIR CONSTANT SUPPORT AND LOVE LIKE I REALLY CAN'T BELIEVE YOU GUYS i love you so, well, um, thanks for all the bookmarks and 300+ kudos and i'm so so so glad you guys could show your support because it means a lot to me. loT S AND LOTS OF LOVE. Special thanks to Niki who helped me churn out this chapter even though I was a snail with one wheel.


	7. release your inhibitions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which a number of people learn how to do the friend but other people still do it better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AKA the transition chapter from hell AKA what the frick happened in January

“So Yui and I were wondering,” Ennoshita began as he slid over Suga’s mapo tofu, “how you were eating.”

Sugawara stopped to look up two spoonfuls in. The wonderful smell of the Flightless Crow’s dish nearly deafened him to any distractions. Blinking, and glanced at his bowl and back at Ennoshita curiously.

“At home. I mean at home, Sugawara. You know, since Yui moved out two months ago and Noya’s rooming with Asahi now.” Oh, that. Ennoshita scrunched his face worryingly. “Don’t tell me you’re living off instant ramen and water.”

“Of course not, I’m not a college student anymore,” Sugawara said a little too defensively, which got him a disbelieving look from Ennoshita. Embarrassed, he guiltily stuffed another tofu into his mouth. “Sometimes I grab convenience store meals.”

“ _What_ ,” Tobio and Daichi said.

For a moment, the dim lights and chattering evening crowds of the Flightless Crow filled his head to block out the scandalized gasps from his two friends. He and Tobio had headed over to the restaurant following their after-school practice and Sugawara had been delighted to have an excuse to eat something quality and be able to catch Daichi at work. He had been happy to see Daichi working the bar counter that evening, but that joy was slipping fast.

Sugawara kept eating just to keep himself from speaking, but it didn’t help with the sting of the two brother’s stares. Tobio himself looked as if Sugawara had just knifed through his volleyball, and Daichi couldn’t even find the words to say. It was almost cute the way that food and volleyball stood on the same pedestal for these two: right at the top.

Sugawara glared at Ennoshita, but the chef gave him one of those smirks a sibling would make when their mother caught you one with your hand in the cookie jar. He had disappeared back into the kitchen before Sugawara could even speak, and that was when Daichi had cornered him at the bar counter.

“Don’t tell me you eat like that every day,” Daichi said, swinging the rag he was using to clean the counters over his shoulder. Tobio, the traitor, nodded in agreement. Funny, Sugawara thought, that they _would_ team up on him in a time like this when they could barely agree on what color to make the New Year’s decorations.

“Yui didn’t trust me in the kitchen, and I still don’t trust myself,” Sugawara confessed. Tobio narrowed his eyes, understanding but disapproving. “Hey, I’ve been getting better! Just because I never really got the hang of all of the fancy stuff you guys do around here doesn’t mean I’m incompetent.”

“Suga, you know three, _three_ , professional chefs including myself,” Daichi told him, as Sugawara continued to eat the dish made by Chef He Knew #2. “And you eat store-bought lunch.”

“Well,” Sugawara said.

“Why don’t you just… ask someone for help?” Tobio said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

 _That,_ Sugawara imagined himself saying, _is my least favorite thing to do_ , but it sounded haughty in his head. Tobio was still right. Sugawara was 27 years old with his own apartment and a steady job; he shouldn’t be living like this, really. But this was really the first time in a long time that he didn’t have Takeda, Yui, or Asahi constantly by his side. They all knew the holes in his functioning and just filled in the gaps.

Maybe Daichi owning a restaurant was a sign. Sugawara knew there was a reason he had caught onto him so quickly.

Suddenly, a thought dawned upon him, and he peered at Daichi. “Wait, you’ve had my cooking before.”

Daichi opened his mouth to speak, but thought best of it and covered his mouth. Tobio started to scratch at a meaningless spot on the counter. “Well…”

“You ate it in front of me,” Suga continued, aghast. “You didn’t say anything.”

“We had barely known each other for a full 24 hours by that point!” Daichi said. Tobio ducked his head to try and hide his face but _Suga could hear him laughing_. Daichi folded his arms defensively. “Plus, you were really nice, and you were telling me this embarrassing story about Asahi. Those two alone made me forgive your tasteless food.”

“Tasteless,” Sugawara echoed. Daichi blushed.

“Told you it was overcooked,” Tobio commented, smirking just as subtly as Daichi was. Sugawara stared at the two conspirators.

“I hate you both,” Sugawara said, shoving another spoonful of the restaurant’s food into his mouth. He took aim at Daichi. “I can’t believe I agreed to be friends with you.”

“Too late,” Daichi said, and whacked Suga in the shoulder with his rag. “We’re going to feed you to death.”

“ _No,_ ” Sugawara gasped.

“Tobio, make sure he doesn’t get away,” Daichi told his brother, who nodded approvingly. “We can’t let him get away with this.”

“Oh my god, you guys.” Sugawara could barely even contain his laughter by this point. “I’m telling Yui.”

“She can thank us later,” Daichi said, picked up his rag, and traded approving looks with his brother. And then he grinned at Sugawara, and the world came to a standstill.

He took a breath and shook his head with a sigh. It was better to appreciate the little things about him in moderation.

Sugawara grinned back and waved him back off to work. Though, the best part of it was the small smile Tobio had on his face for that entire moment.

 

...

...

...

 

Sugawara shouldn’t have expected less when he started hanging out with the Sawamuras.

“You don’t really hate us, do you?” Tobio asked him the next day as they made their way to the Flightless Crow. The question had taken him pretty off-guard, at the time, but something about Tobio’s worry was almost endearing at this point.

“Of course not,” Sugawara chuckled, and gave the taller boy a couple good hefty pats on the shoulder. “It’s hard to hate the people that feed me.”

“You should have just asked earlier, then!” Tobio told him, but quickly resigned from the topic at the sound of Sugawara’s laugh. “You should take him out tonight.”

That made Suga stop. “Tobio, you know I can’t…”

“Just out!” Tobio snapped back, and Sugawara gave him a warning glance. Wincing at the reprimanding look, the younger relaxed. “You distract him. He doesn’t sleep in the office anymore. That’s good. He needs distracting.”

Oh, well Sugawara could agree with that. At times, when Sugawara walked into the Flightless Crow had to swim his way through the Sea of Friday Night Rush, he could see why Daichi spent so much time in his office. But that only made him worry about him more, just as Tobio did.

Daichi kind of reminded Sugawara of Yamaguchi, who always worked double what he needed to so that nothing fell apart in the long run. Except Daichi was not a fifth grader, and he was guardian to a 16 year old boy with his own house and a restaurant on his shoulders. A majority of the time he spent with Daichi was at his restaurant, but Sugawara would be happy to drag him out of there to sit him down for a good bowl of coffee or ramen when he could. It made him feel accomplished seeing Daichi’s relaxed expression.

It also made Sugawara wonder just how long Daichi had been keeping up with this kind of life by himself for so long.

“So you’ll do it?” Tobio asked. He must have taken the contemplative look on Sugawara’s face as approval, and failed to hide the spark in his eyes.

No use in hiding it. “It’s not going to be a date.”

“Yet.”

Sugawara swallowed, and didn’t reply. Sometimes, Sugawara wondered if Tobio was a figment of his subconscious, the optimistic, dreamy part of it. If his subconscious were an anxiety-ridden sixteen year old boy, then maybe.

Actually, that didn’t sound too far off. But the thought didn’t stay with him for long as it was interrupted the moment they stepped into the restaurant’s proximity.

“TOBES!” A voice boomed in the distance, and while it scared Sugawara out of his boots, Tobio’s eyes practically lit up at the sound.

Sugawara’s gaze shot up to the front doorstep of the Flightless Crow, and there on the top step stood the ace player of Japan. He gaped as Bokuto Koutarou jumped over the steps and slid over to meet Tobio by the front gates. The sudden desire to protect his companion flared because _he had seen this person on TV and what was someone like him doing in a place like this this can’t possibly be real_.

“Bokuto-san!” Tobio exclaimed, surprising Sugawara. Anyone who instantly grabbed Tobio’s full attention was a wonder to him. Of course a national volleyball player would capture Tobio’s attention, Sugawara just wasn’t sure if it was actually happening.

“Hey, kiddo, you’ve been practicing? How’s the team? Did you get any better? Did you see us totally _rock_ at Brazil? Huh? Did you? You should totally come next time! It’ll be great! You can see the team and Akaashi can have a buddy to go sightseeing with if he comes next time because how cool would that be, huh? Huh? Who’s your friend? Does he play? That would be _sweet_ —”

Sugawara’s head was scrambling just listening to Bokuto shoot Tobio a question per second. Nonetheless, the younger player seemed intrigued, if a little intimidated by Bokuto’s forwardness.

“Koutarou, you’re scaring him.” Like a trigger, the sound of a steady voice made Bokuto freeze in his tracks and jump away from the two in an instant. Sugawara didn’t even realize that he had been practically shielding Tobio from the volleyball player like a protective mother.

Quickly, he composed himself and looked up to the entrance of a placid-looking man, who drew a pouting Bokuto back behind him. The neat hair and a prim work suit made him seem much more professional than his companion. His manager? “Hello,” Sugawara greeted him, trying not to pay attention to how the newcomer was examining him like a newfound species.

“You must be Sugawara,” he said, and held out his hand. “Akaashi Keiji.”

“Oh, um, yes. That’s me. Sugawara Koushi.” Sugawara shook hands with Akaashi. He had a soft grip, but strong, like he was trying to prove some higher authority. “Do I know you?”

“No, but Tobio does.” Akaashi pointed to the boy behind Sugawara, who was giving Akaashi some major warning glares. The older man just smirked. “Considering he’s not offended by your protectiveness, you’re probably his new friend. I have to say, I imagined you’d be a little younger than a college student.”

“I’m 27,” Sugawara corrected, and Akaashi squinted at him as Bokuto burst out laughing.

“You’re the one that plays volleyball with Tobes, right?” Bokuto asked, and grinned at Sugawara’s nod. “Ooooh! That’s perfect! You should rub this into Iwaizumi’s face; he won’t play for _anyone_ nowadays. It sucks.”

“Iwaizumi plays volleyball?” Sugawara and Tobio said at once. All Suga knew about Iwaizumi Hajime was that he was one of the newer waiters at the Flightless Crow and that he seemed to be one of the few people Tobio truly seemed to listen to around the restaurant. Bokuto knowing him only made him seem more mysterious.

“Let’s not talk about that,” Akaashi said, making Bokuto shrug. “I was hoping your friend would be closer to your age, Tobio. He’s more around your brother’s age, isn’t he?”

“I’m friends with Daichi too,” Sugawara added. “That’s was pretty much all because of Tobio, though. Not that I’m complaining, no sir.”

“You’re encouraging to make friends at school, I hope?” Akaashi asked, an eyebrow raised.

“Sometimes I feel as if that’s what’s I’m here for,” Sugawara said. Tobio shot him a skeptical glance, which Sugawara dismissed. _It’s not as if I’m screaming out about your secret crush or anything. Yes! Go Suga for keeping secrets!_

“Guys, I hate to interrupt, but standing outside of an open restaurant in the middle of a winter evening is really lame.” Bokuto wasted no time in pushing Tobio and Akaashi toward the Flightless Crow. Before anyone could protest, he looked over all of them and said, “Am I right? I’m right. Awesome. Time to go, Tobes, Keiji, Suga-san. Let’s hope Daichi’s in so we can get some free food.”

“Daichi’s _always_ in,” Tobio said.

“That’s _perfect_ ,” Bokuto said. Akaashi just shook his head, but allowed himself to be taken away. Sugawara, caught by the pleading looks Tobio shot him, stalked after them.

 ...

 

“This is bullshit.” Bokuto was grumbling only ten minutes later at the bar counter of the Flightless Crow. “You win _silver_ in Brazil and the owner of your friendly local restaurant won’t even give you a free meal?”

“I’m not treating anyone in front of my customers,” Daichi told him. Tobio looked as if _he_ would have probably given Bokuto a free meal, but didn’t comment as he dug into his food.

“What,” Bokuto said in disbelief. “You let Suga-san have a plate just like that!”

Daichi scoffed and leaned over to Sugawara’s end of the counter. “Suga’s a charity case. Aren’t you, Suga?”

“You know the only reason I’m letting you call me that is because I’m on a teacher’s salary, right?” Sugawara said, finishing off his meal.

Daichi smacked him with his rag again, and Sugawara threatened to pay him as he dashed back to work, leaving a grumbling Bokuto in his wake. He decided to ignore the way Tobio peered at him expectantly, but what worried him most was the catlike grin Akaashi sent his way. _What was Tobio telling him?_

“Yo, Suga-san,” was the moment Sugawara remembered that there was one Bokuto Koutarou only sitting a seat away from him with the same wild eyes he saw on live games. “I’ve never seen you before,” he told Sugawara in his most serious tone. “How did you get Daichi to give you a free meal pass?”

“I, uh, well,” Sugawara fumbled over his words, starstruck.

“Because his food’s shit,” Tobio said. “And he lives alone. And wants to date my brother, so.” He immediately shut up when Sugawara hit his shoulder, and he tried to tune out Akaashi once the snickering started.

“Just to clarify, I do not want to date Daichi,” Sugawara hissed, glaring at Tobio, who pouted.

“But you’re in love with him,” Tobio tried.

“A _crush_ is not the same thing as being in love with someone, Tobio—”

“You know, I don’t find it surprising that you two are friends,” Akaashi said, and finished off his tea. It was unnerving how Akaashi always looked as if he knew something. Sugawara has been suspicious the moment the word _counseling_ had entered the conversation, and Sugawara knew all too well how therapists worked. If Tobio had really known Akaashi that long, then he wouldn’t be surprised if Tobio had told Akaashi more than he had Sugawara.

“Could I do that?” Bokuto wondered out loud, and then turned to his partner. “Do you think Daichi would give me free meals if we got divorced?” Akaashi glared. “Not that I don’t love your food, Keiji,” Bokuto added quickly. And Sugawara promptly choked on his food.

“No, you’re a decent cook. I’ve had your yakiniku,” Akaashi told him, completely oblivious to Sugawara’s plight, and gave his disappointed husband a pat on the back.

“You two are never getting divorced.” Tobio practically demanded. “I like you both.” That got Bokuto’s spirits back up immediately, thankfully, and he slung an arm around the younger’s shoulders appreciatively, gaining a rare smile out of the boy.

Bokuto sniffled. “You’re too good to me, Tobes,” he said.

“ _What_ ,” Sugawara choked out.

The duo stopped their dramatics and looked up at Sugawara. Still with Tobio in his chokehold, Bokuto gaped up at the left out member of their ensemble with an unsettling realization. “Dude, are you okay? You’re not one of those guys who’s pissed over the whole gay marriage thing, are you? I thought you had a crush on Daichi!” He let go of Tobio to stare at him with all the accusation in the world. “What have you been telling him?”

“Hey!” Tobio said.

“No! Oh god, no, I-I just thought… You guys… Whoa.” Sugawara rubbed his eyes awake, as if he were waking up from a dream. “Congratulations.”

Akaashi seemed to soften up at Sugawara. He leaned on his hand, and only now did Sugawara really take note of the silver band wrapped around his ring finger, which seemed to gleam bright in the evening restaurant lights. “You’re about five years late, but thank you, anyway. I’m more than happy.”

A simple statement, but Bokuto glowed with pride, dragging in Akaashi into an excited embrace and dropping a kiss onto his head. The stoic expression melted from Akaashi’s face as he let out a warm laugh as he pulled away. The gesture was quick and natural, flowing as quickly as an everyday conversation, but Sugawara couldn’t help but feel bubbly just watching them.

A little selfishly, Sugawara wondered if Daichi knew how many gay people he hung around. Aside from their mutual friends and the people Sugawara was forbidden to talk about, he knew Daichi knew Lev; they had been to the Loud Lion more than once. Sugawara bit his lip, hopeful of himself.

“Must be nice,” he said, only realizing he had said it out loud when Tobio snuck him a glance, and then turned back to Bokuto animatedly telling a content Akaashi about Brazil. At that, things began to make a lot more sense.

 

...

 

“You guys finished gossiping?”

Daichi stepped up next to where Sugawara was seated at the top of the restaurant steps, watching where their three companions had yet to leave. Bokuto seemed to enjoy the room to show off to Tobio properly his adventures in South America, which Sugawara had vaguely interpreted to be something between a rave and a volleyball match against an undead army.

“Are you sure you’re allowed to let yourself out here?” Sugawara asked the manager, and Daichi scoffed.

“I had to make sure you and Akaashi weren’t plotting against me. There’s a reason I haven’t introduced you two yet,” he replied, and then nudged Sugawara with his foot. “And to kick you off the steps. You’re blocking the entrance.”

“Oh, please, it’s Wednesday night, what customers are you expecting?” Sugawara said, but stood up anyway, next to Daichi. “Better?”

“Fully blocking the doors, exactly what I was going for.” Daichi gave him a false OK sign before dragging him off to the side. Sugawara definitely felt more comfortable pressed up against Daichi against the railings, but at least now he was used to admitting it. Luckily, his partner was a good distraction himself. “I think the reason we settled on Akaashi was because of Bokuto.”

Their gaze fell on where Akaashi was making a call out at the restaurant gates, radiating professionalism as he conversed with the unseen character. “‘Settled on?’” Sugawara echoed curiously.

Daichi let out a breath, watching Tobio egg more information out of Bokuto. “Tobio took a while to grow out of his anger management problems. He was never happy with any of his early counselors. He got… physical, sometimes.”

Sugawara felt himself grow heavy against the cold press of the railing on his back. “And Akaashi charmed him out of that?”

Wordlessly, Daichi shook his head. “Tobio was scared stiff after his second session with Akaashi. It was completely out of character; I nearly took someone’s eye out before Tobio told me for the first time that he wanted to go again.”

Sugawara raised an eyebrow. “Did you… ever find out why?”

“Patient confidentiality is a powerful thing,” Daichi told Sugawara seriously. “It’s a bittersweet word. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve cursed and loved the sound of it.”

That gave Akaashi twenty more points of approval in Sugawara’s book. But really. “I’m not sure if I should be shameful or proud that you would want to pry information about your brother’s life out of his therapist.”

“He’s my therapist too,” Daichi said, defensive, catching Sugawara off-guard. There was a brief pause, and before Sugawara could build up with will to say anything, Daichi’s gaze landed on Akaashi, and his expression fell. “Should I be worried that my brother is more comfortable talking about his problems with strangers instead of me?”

A thick blanket of tension fell over them, drowning out all of the background noise in Sugawara’s mind. Daichi wasn’t just worried about his brother not talking to him, he was worried that it was because of his own problems that Tobio wasn’t talking to him.

That made Sugawara feel guilty. He knew Daichi still wasn’t over his mother’s death, or his parents leaving him with his brother, but he always made up with it by consuming himself in work and responsibility. Sugawara should have known this best, but he guessed Daichi was just as good of an actor. Sugawara just hoped he had the right words to ease him out of that.

Sugawara turned around and looked Daichi dead in the eye. “Tobio’s scared of the world,” he told Daichi, and Daichi blinked in surprise at the sudden statement. “I think telling you his secrets is one of the things he’s really trying his best to face out of everything.”

“Why?” Daichi asked, a little desperately. “There’s no way I can hate him. He doesn’t think that, does he?”

“No, but your opinion matters the most,” Sugawara said, and gave Daichi’s a wrist a reassuring squeeze. “If there’s one thing he can’t lose, it’s you. He just needs time to work up the courage to do so.”

“It’s been seven years,” Daichi insisted, tensing under Sugawara’s hand, his expression tight. “I don’t know how long it will take.”

“Daichi, I’m going to tell you something and I want you to take this in no other way than me helping answer your question.” Once he had captured his friend’s attention, Sugawara’s voice was unwavering. “It’s been twelve years since I started taking antidepressants, and there are still days where I can’t function without them. The only reason Yui knows about anything in my life is because she’s learned how to tell if I’m hiding something, without even asking, and demand for it, or else I wouldn’t be able to tell her half of what I’m really thinking.”

Daichi sucked in a breath, never breaking eye contact. “What are you trying to say?”

Slowly, Sugawara relaxed, and put on a soft smile. “That it doesn’t matter,” Sugawara began, “if it takes seven years, or seventy, it’s very likely that he won’t grow out of this.” At that, Daichi seemed to stop moving. “I think you’re a pretty amazing brother, Daichi, and I think you know that these things aren’t things you can fix. Tobio just needs to keep being reminded about everything you’re saying right now. Even if you think you’ve told him enough. You’re just too similar to your own kin in how you have no idea how you both worry too much.”

Sugawara, realizing he had been holding Daichi’s wrist for too long, dropped his grip quickly and took a breath, doing his best not to look away from Daichi’s careful gaze.

“And it’s, um,” Sugawara stammered, “not something you have to do alone. If Yui and Asahi and Dad have taught me that much.”

Daichi merely stood there for a couple moments, and Sugawara fidgeted. For those couple seconds of silence, Sugawara began to think that maybe he had said too much, right before Daichi pulled him in for a close side hug and roughly ruffled his hair.

“I know, doofus,” he told his friend, but still seemed significantly brighter than before from what Sugawara could feel from under his grip. His arm was warm, but everything seemed to grow hotter than usual at such friendly proximities and grateful tones. Right then, Sugawara almost felt like telling him just that, but stopped himself when Daichi freed him enough to turn the hug into a simple drape of the arm over Sugawara’s slimmer shoulders. “Don’t change, okay?”

“Is that permission to stay unable to cook forever?” Sugawara joked, happy to find an opening to rid of the haunting tension with Daichi’s disapproving look.

“Absolutely not,” Daichi told him, offended. “We’re scheduling cooking dates if we have to, since you’re not taking advantage of any of the other professional cooks in your possession.”

 _Platonically_ , Sugawara screamed internally, as Daichi’s arm seemed to tighten around his shoulders. _He meant that 1000%_ platonically. It was like Kuroo joking to Yui about stealing her away from Ennoshita or posing shirtless on the balcony every time Sugawara set out the laundry. Except Daichi was both fully clothed and not flirting with him. At least, Sugawara didn’t think so.

“I mean,” Daichi continued, snapping Sugawara out of his thoughts, “you like kids, don’t you?”

“Well, I sure hope so, I’m a fourth grade teacher, so,” Sugawara told Daichi, who shot him a look.

“Don’t get smart with me, Sugawara Koushi,” Daichi warned him, and Sugawara held back a girlish giggle. “I was just wondering if you were planning on adopting your own one day.”

All thoughts then came to a screeching halt and all Sugawara could conjure was, “Oh.” What could he say to that? It might be another reason he’s a teacher? That would be weird. “Well, um, yes. I would have hoped to find someone by then, actually.” At Daichi’s stare, Sugawara shrunk uncomfortably. “I mean, Dad raised me by himself, but Ukai and Yui and Asahi and Gramps were all there too. And I still have Yui and Asahi and everyone…”

“And me,” Daichi added, not that that made Sugawara freeze up at all. “I’m not walking out of this thinking I didn’t offer what was best.”

“And you, Daichi,” Sugawara said before he proposed right then and there. “But I’d like to hope I would find someone before then, if that’s enough,” he forced out.

“Hm,” Daichi hummed, accepting Sugawara’s answer, thank god. He then peeked over to the front, reminding his friend of their present company, and Sugawara turned back around to Bokuto and Akaashi. “Akaashi’s been looking to adopt.”

“He has?” Sugawara said.

“Bokuto wants to raise his own miniature volleyball team,” Daichi told him, which got a laugh out of his companion. “Akaashi wants a girl, though. Bokuto doesn’t really mind what gender team he raises. As long as they’re theirs.”

Sugawara clicked his tongue playfully as he watched Akaashi end his phone call and break into Tobio and Bokuto’s reunion game. “He does seem like one of those doting fathers.”

“It’ll be hell,” Daichi agreed in his own way, as Akaashi began to explain something to Bokuto carefully, making his husband still with every word. “I just hope he’ll be a positive influence.”

“HOLY SHIT!” Bokuto yelled, making the two of them and Tobio jump, but not wasting a second before sweeping Akaashi off his feet, much to the surprise of his companion, and spinning him around with the energy of a thousand suns. His arms wrapped tight around Akaashi’s waist, and his face pressed into Akaashi’s chest to keep his excitement contained. “HOLY FUCKING SHIT, I LOVE YOU!”

“Um,” Tobio began as he made his way up the steps to Sugawara and Daichi. “I think that was the adoption agency on the line, if I heard right.”

Watching them, Sugawara found that there was a thin line between joy and jealousy.

 

...

...

...

 

Tobio was grateful for the days Sugawara left the school late, because there was something about standing outside of an elementary school with an endless sea of children pouring out of it that made him want to sink into the earth and never come out.

It shouldn’t have been that bad, really; he could easily be mistaken for an older sibling if he didn’t scare about half of them away and paid no attention to the children at all. Some of the parents even came to talk to them, which didn’t mind him much. He was used to talking to adults. The perks of hanging out at a restaurant full of older people all day.

None of the adults approached him today, and that was okay with him. Some of the kids even waved him hellos and goodbyes, a couple he recognized from the previous weeks. He was shocked, a little, but he managed to wave back and get some smiles in return.

Seeing that made Tobio’s opinion of children skyrocket. Now if only Yamaguchi would talk to him. Whatever. He didn’t need to depend on the opinion of one fifth grader.

Or maybe he did.

“HEY!”

“ _Shit!_ ” Tobio jumped off the gate wall to meet the accusatory glare of a small, familiar redhead.

“Don’t swear on school grounds, Sawa!” Natsu snapped at him, backpack slung over her tiny shoulder, clashing completely with her oddly-colored coat. “You’re lucky Yaku-sensei’s not here!”

“Or Suga-sensei,” her faithful companion added, though Yamaguchi still voted to be behind Natsu during confrontations. He looked up at Tobio with worrisome eyes, and Tobio, unsure of how to react, waved.

“What he doesn’t know can’t hurt him,” Tobio told the children, and Natsu groaned with exasperation.

“That’s what Nii-chan always says about Mom after he swears. You’re just as bad.” Tobio froze at the mention of Natsu’s brother, suddenly wanting to tell the younger girl about how Hinata had gotten chewed out by Coach Oikawa yesterday for crashing into the net. He wondered if she knew. He wondered if he knew things about her brother that she didn’t.

Tobio stopped and thought for a moment. Did Hinata know he hung around his sister’s school every afternoon? Did Natsu tell him stuff like this? Holy crap, how the hell was he going to explain this?

“Hey Natsu,” Yamaguchi interrupted. “Your brother’s here.”

Tobio wanted to jump into the river.

Except when he tried turning around the run, that was exactly where Hinata happened to be, and the look of disbelief he got was one for the records. Hinata blinked up at him, his face like a kaleidoscope of emotions, as if he couldn’t just decide on one. Tobio managed to go through the _so neutral he couldn’t breathe_ look, with added children around his legs.

“Nii-chan looks like a fish,” Natsu whispered not-so-discreetly to Yamaguchi.

“A tuna fish,” Yamaguchi added.

“Tuna and tobiyou!” Natsu gasped, which Tobio responded to by shaking them off his legs.

“I’m not a fish!” Tobio snapped. Natsu just stuck her tongue out at the older boy and dragged Yamaguchi off to go tackle sixth graders into the snow.

“Natsu!” Hinata scolded, but Yamaguchi was already dragging Natsu back from the fights, making the older sigh. “I swear…”

“Um,” Tobio said.

Hinata froze stiff when he realized he had the taller’s attention. To his credit, he didn’t run away like any of the other times Tobio attempted to talk to him. He must have been practicing for the sake of captaincy, because he mustered up his bravest fighting stance and faced Tobio completely.

“Wh-What do you want, Sawamura?” he stammered out, grinning stiffer than a board. Behind them, Natsu yelled and a large sixth grader screamed. It was oddly reassuring.

“Don’t talk to me like…!” Hinata flinched at Tobio’s tone, and he bit his tongue immediately. _Calm down, Sawamura._ “I’m… waiting for someone. We practice together.”

Hinata gaped at him. Cautiously, he continued. “Like… every day?”

Tobio shrugged, trying to keep his expression from twisting into one of embarrassment. It was a lot harder than it seemed, and Tobio was sure he looked something close to constipated. “He and my brother are friends,” he offered, which was true enough.

“I see,” Hinata said, strained a little. He appeared to be contemplating something important, opening up a long space of pure silence that was eventually broken by Yaku’s angered voice.

“NATSU!”

“Nii-chan, Yama, escape!” Natsu yelled in a panic, and Yamaguchi quickly picked Natsu up off the boys she was battling and pulled her away from the scene of the crime, darting around Tobio and Hinata’s legs speedily. Hinata jumped about a foot into the air and Tobio clamped a hand over his shoulder to keep him from falling over himself.

“Na…! Um.” Hinata glanced at Tobio’s hand on his shoulder, which was probably stone stiff over the fact that this was really the first time Tobio was _touching Hinata his shoulders were surprisingly muscular good lord._

“Gpphg,” Tobio squeaked, and tore his hand off Hinata’s shoulder in an instant, pinning his hand to his side.

The silence between them made Tobio sick and his hand burn up into oblivion. He tried to distract himself with the sound of Yaku dragging angry sixth graders off each other, but there was something about the way his senior was staring at him that made him sweat in the middle of winter.

Hinata looked at him for a moment, two, and then howled.

“What was that _sound_ , Sawamura?” The tension was wiped from the situation immediately. Tobio’s jaw dropped, but Hinata just kept on laughing. Oh, come on, it was not _that_ funny. “That was not… Keh, that was _not_ a volleyball robot sound. I can’t believe this… Hey, say something else!”

“You’re a fucking moron,” Tobio hissed, but his face was searing hot. Hinata took one look at him and laughed harder.

“You look like a fucking moron,” Hinata chirped back, without the usual seriousness and irritation that was usually present during practice. It made Tobio feel a lot better. “Wow, I can’t believe that…”

“Shouldn’t you go find your sister?” Tobio reminded him before he embarrassed himself in front of his crush any longer. “She’s getting away.”

That got Hinata’s attention. “Gwagh! I— Dammit!” He gathered himself up and tightened his grip around his bag. “You should be more of a loser during practice.”

Tobio scowled.

“Amazing,” Hinata said as he stared at Tobio’s face with his new realization. “I… um, I guess I’ll see you at practice tomorrow, Sawamura!”

He waved goodbye as he ran off, following the smaller footprints of his sister and her friend. If limply, Tobio managed to snap himself out of his gaze quickly enough to wave back. And he kept waving. And waving. And only stopped when he heard Sugawara snickering from the other side of the gate.

“That was brilliant,” Sugawara chuckled, eying Tobio slyly.

Tobio couldn’t bring himself to reply, but he was sure he had the stupidest smile on his face.

 

...

...

...

 

Sugawara’s cooking dates with Daichi were not dates. Because his friends were jerks.

“NEIGHBOR PARTY!” Kuroo cheered the moment Sugawara opened his door. He stood there gaping as Kuroo and pushed his way past him with loaf of French bread and a bag of various pastries. He finally got a dose of relief when Futakuchi and her teenage son Kenji tailed after him with a Bundt cake.

“Sugawara!” Lady Futakuchi, Chika, handed Sugawara the cake with a big smile when they reached Sugawara’s living room. He blinked at the warmly glazed goodness in his hands. He could practically feel Daichi murder him for just looking at it. “Kuroo told us you were cooking!”

Futakuchi Kenji coughed into his hands and looked at anything besides Sugawara. Chika looked as if she were suppressing a concerned look. Sugawara narrowed his eyes at them both.

“Thanks, Futakuchi-san,” he replied, and Chika looked nothing less than dazzling. Curious, Sugawara glanced over at Kenji, who was glancing back and forth at Daichi and Sugawara.

“Is he the one cooking?” he asked, and pointed over to where Kuroo was unsurprisingly already getting on Daichi’s nerves. “Please say yes.”

Well, it wasn’t as if he couldn’t blame them. “That’s Daichi. He holds the same beliefs you do in which I should be fed with proper food.”

“Oh! Good,” Chika laughed, and instantly lit up. She pushed the plate into Sugawara’s hands and told him, “You should eat the cake anyways. You’re getting thinner. I’m sure your man over there is feeding you properly, isn’t he?” She then gasped. “Are we interrupting anything?”

“Mom,” Futakuchi warned with a groan, but Chika just waved her son away. Sugawara would have laughed if it weren’t so horrifying.

“Quiet, Kenji, Mommy’s discussing important matter.” She marveled at how Daichi and Kuroo seemed to face off each other in the kitchen like lions fighting over their prey. “Where did you find him? It smells like heaven in here!”

“And he’s just here to cook, Futakuchi-san,” Sugawara laughed off. He rubbed his neck, his tone all but screamed how nervous he was about Kuroo and Chika both being here and hunting down Daichi. Kenji looked as if he wanted to crawl under the couch, looked like they had that in common. “He owns the restaurant Yui’s husband works at. I met him last November at their wedding.”

“Oh, that’s right.” Chika clicked her tongue. “To the boy with a name like mine. At least we know she has taste. We wouldn’t want such a lovely lady leaving these apartments for some floozy, would we?”

“Over my dead body,” Sugawara replied. The mere image of Yui hooking up with some sleazebag playboy from downtown made him want to run over and drag her back home.

He paused and thought for a moment. Well, Daichi wasn’t a sleazebag.

“Well, anyone who cooks like that and is willing to battle Kuroo off is worthy of your homestay in my opinion! He should move in. What did you say his name was again?”

“Sawamura Daichi,” Sugawara told her before he could even stop himself, and she laughed out loud.

“That’s just like your friend, Kenji!” Chika clapped her stunned son on the shoulder, who was looking at Sugawara as if he wasn’t supposed to exist. “Alright, I’m going in. Have fun, boys!”

She dashed off into the kitchen with a bounce in her step, leaving Sugawara to deal with a shell-shocked Kenji.

“…You knew,” he said.

“Knew what?” Sugawara replied, smiling far too innocently.

Kenji didn’t seem to be amused. “About Sawamura. You knew he played for my team. That’s why you’re always smirking at me.”

“Don’t worry, I’ve only heard good things,” Sugawara snickered, not that Futakuchi was that amused. “I’ve known him since November, technically. He’s a good kid. Is he doing any better?”

Futakuchi raised an eyebrow, but shrugged, resigning. “He doesn’t yell at Kindaichi anymore. I think that only makes the guy more freaked out, though. And he’s known Sawamura since grade school.”

 _Well,_ Sugawara thought, _he’s trying_. He glanced over to where Daichi was battling off Kuroo with a spatula in the kitchen, and Sugawara could only think of how proud he would of his brother.

“Hinata’s trying to convince us he’s a loser,” Futakuchi added. “I’m not sure how to take that as captain. But he keeps laughing in Sawamura’s face whenever he sees him. It helps, oddly enough.” He narrowed his eyes at Sugawara. “Do you know anything about this?”

“Absolutely not,” Sugawara lied smoothly, but the Futakuchis had a knack for spotting lies from a mile away. Especially the overly-confident, giddily-smiled ones. 

Futakuchi sighed. “Whatever. But I’d say I’m proud of him. In my own way. I mean, I’m not going to be in the club for much longer, but I think Hinata can handle it now. He was the one I was the most worried about. They’re both good players, they just need some help.”

Sugawara beamed at Futakuchi. He couldn’t help but agree more.

The moment of satisfaction was quickly erased by Futakuchi peeking over Sugawara’s shoulder to the party in the kitchen. “That’s his brother, right? Is he okay?”

“ _SUGA_ ,” Daichi shouted, followed by Chika and Kuroo’s menacing laughter. There was something about the sound clattering kitchenware, Futakuchi’s disturbed expression, and Chika’s unprofessional cry of “he’ll have to take it off!” that made Sugawara refuse to turn around.

“Pardon me for a second,” he told Futakuchi, who happily allowed Sugawara to slink back into the hallway.

Once he was away from the chaos, he whipped out his phone and speed dialed the first person who would answer his cry for help.

“Yui,” he said as soon as the ringing stopped. “Kuroo’s here.”

“I’m on my way.”

 

...

...

...

 

“Okay choose.” Sugawara dumped a small mountain of DVD boxes onto Daichi’s coffee table, ignoring the stares of disbelief stuck on him. “I have the entire _Men in Black_ trilogy with subtitles, unless you want to go for a classic. _13 Assassins_ is good, but the thrillers always seem to get best results.”

Well, it worked on his old boyfriends. Sugawara had built up an uncanny tolerance for blood and gore over his many years of movie-viewing, unlike some of the people he dated. Though back at home, it was movies like _Battle Royale_ that always got Kuroo angry the fastest. Maybe it was the blood-curdling screams.

“Hey, you’ve got _Grave of the Fireflies_!” Daichi noticed, and picked up the old box. “Love this one.”

“What’s _Texas Chainsaw Massacre_?” Tobio said. He flipped it over a couple times. “It’s American.” He only got about halfway through the summary before Sugawara nabbed it out of his hands.

“Uh, not tonight,” Sugawara told him, and threw the horror back in his bag. As much as he liked the subtle flirting he could pass during his usual horror movies marathons, he wasn’t actually trying to flirt with Daichi. Or give Tobio any more trauma than he needed. Who knew, anyway? Maybe Tobio and Daichi liked watching a madman skin people alive.

“ _Hope Floats_ subbed? Really, Sugawara?” Daichi showed him Sandra Bullock’s heartfelt expression with all of the Western cowboy-ism the box could convey. Pouting, Sugawara took that box too.

“I like the little girl,” Sugawara grumbled, and dumped away another DVD. “You were the one who suggested movie night, don’t make fun of my taste. Besides, I didn’t think _you_ would like it.”

“Why’d you bring it, then?” Daichi raised an eyebrow, and Sugawara couldn’t do much more than threaten to beat him with an embroidered couch pillow.

Movie night really was Daichi’s idea, thank you very much. All Sugawara had to do was tone down his excitement and calmly convince Daichi to do it at his house so that Kuroo wouldn’t be interrupting any of their adventures, as he usually did when Sugawara started up movie night. Tobio had actually offered to leave, but Sugawara was not a fan of a) Tobio being off to places unknown until 10 in the evening, and b) making this seem even more like a pass at Daichi than it actually was.

Which it probably was. Sugawara had to stop denying it. But it was a friendship pass. Between friends.

 _Does it count as a friendship pass if one person is crushing on the other?_ One of the many questions that probably should have been answered in high school, but Sugawara didn’t really have that much of a stable high school life as the next guy, so.

Shifting, through the rest of Sugawara’s film library, which Daichi seemed to recognize as the Mountain of Sugawara’s Laughable taste, they just barely noticed when Tobio picked up a box that was neither bloody nor old with interest.

“What about this one?” He waved the box up, and Daichi took it from his hand in a beat. It only took him one look over the summary to get him to stop thinking about whatever he was arguing about with Suga two seconds ago.

“Is this any good?” Daichi asked, and presented the [_Nobody Knows_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobody_Knows_%282004_film%29) case to his friend.

 _Oh,_ that was the one movie Sugawara was reluctant to really bring. He almost wanted to say _no_ , but that would have meant lying. It was a good movie, he, Yui, and Asahi watched it was Takeda and Ukai the night they graduated high school, and there wasn’t a dry eye in the room once it ended. Worst of all, Asahi hugged them all tight and Yui couldn’t stop sobbing when she called her brother to pick her up.

Sugawara swallowed the lump in his throat. “It is,” he told them carefully, and took up the box. “If you’re ready for a good tearfest.”

Tobio huffed, taking the movie from Sugawara’s hands and moving to the television. “We can take it,” he said, though more as if he were trying to say, _we know what it’s like_.

“I know,” Sugawara said. “That’s what worries me.”

Watching Tobio shove the DVD into the player, Daichi rolled his eyes and pulled Sugawara up next to him onto the couch with a disgruntled, _oomph_. “Watch the movie, Suga. It’s family time. We ride together, we cry together.”

Sugawara couldn’t hold in the snort of laughter that followed. “That was really lame, you know that, right?”

“You love it.”

Yeah, he did.

Tobio shut off the lights and nestled next to Daichi and Sugawara’s feet. Eventually the movie started up, and all that was left was to count off when everyone stopped pretending they couldn’t take the heat. Tobio broke halfway through the movie. Daichi when Yuki died. Sugawara started sobbing at the opening credits and didn’t stop. Nobody laughed at him.

Daichi did keep a comforting arm over his shoulders for the rest of the movie, though. Sugawara hated how much it helped.

 

...

...

...

 

Saturday, Sugawara could only wonder if it was love when he answered Daichi calling him at five in the morning.

“Suga,” Daichi’s voice shot clear and awake through the speaker.

“Daichi.” Sugawara rolled over, trying to muster as much disapproval in his voice as possible. “It’s way too early for this.”

“It’s an emergency,” was the immediate reply. Then, as if he was trying to keep Sugawara from panicking, added, “You’re good with children, right?”

“You’re joking,” Sugawara said, half-muffled by his pillow. He hated not being able to hang up on Daichi. When did it come to this? He was sure that this was the point of the relationship where Sugawara was allowed to hang up on Daichi if he could muster the desire to. But it wasn’t. They were _still talking_.

“No, I mean.” Daichi sighed. “Do you know kids? Like young ones? ”

Sugawara, giving in, flopped onto his back and replied, “A couple.”

“I need distractions, and someone who’s good with relationships. At fixing relationships.”

“Um,” Sugawara said, starting to worry. “What… What did you do? Is this about some girlfriend I didn’t hear about?”

“What? Of course not!” Sugawara relaxed. “It’s for a friend. Today.”

“Oh.” He managed to sit up at this point, and pushed his hair back out of his eyes. “Okay, just—”

“Loud Lion at six? Thanks, great. You’re awesome, Suga _._ Okay gotta go bye!”

“Daichi—!” The dial tone was all that was left to hear Sugawara’s reply, leaving him to stare at the call time flashing on his phone. Irritated, Sugawara frowned at his phone to accompany his most threatening glare. “You are so lucky you’re handsome,” he grumbled into the empty room, and threw himself out of bed to drag himself to the Loud Lion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOW UM somebody is talking about me because attention for this fic just EXPLODED HOLY SHIT??? What is this who are you people I don't know but STAY COOL.
> 
> Sorry you had to live through this transition chapter, it's not my favorite but I WOULD JUST LIKE TO SAY the next arc (ie. next chapter) is probably one I'm super excited about because, um, it has all of my favorite characters involved. [snoops around sneakily with secrets] LOTS OF LOVE TO YOU ALL!!
> 
> Also please read [this webcomic about hockey](http://omgcheckplease.tumblr.com/) it is A+++++ and it involves pie, anxiety, amazing art, boys being *ahem* boys, and, of course, college ice hockey. You won't be disappointed. [prayer emoji]


	8. another night, another dream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Suga wants answers, music is made, and Daichi is the most annoyingly vague little shit on the planet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the late chapter! This chapter was a little more of a struggle than I imagined.
> 
> EDIT: fixed Kiyoko's name OTL, thanks Andramion!

“ _Dear Incompetent Blockhead_ …”

Suga put his face into his hands.

“Hey, I don’t know his name!” Yui protested, kicking her foot out to jab him in the stomach and then waved the letter in his face.

“I think Nishinoya said it was ‘Ennoshita’.” Asahi offered, as ever so helpful he was. He leaned back in Yui’s desk chair, thoughtful. “Chikara. Ennoshita Chikara.”

“Uuuugh, Asahiii! Stop conversing with the enemy!” Yui protested and buried her face in her letter. “You’re making me look bad.”

“Alright, alright, we can fix that,” Sugawara said, patting Yui’s leg in reassurance from his place at the foot of her bed. Luckily, dormitory restrictions were loose enough for Suga and Asahi to spend a good hour or so helping Yui fix whatever sleep-deprived acts of malice she did to poor, equally-sleep-deprived freshmen. Though, he suspected that this might take them a little more than an hour. “Keep going. Then what will you say?”

Yui cleared her throat. “ _Dear…_ Ennoshita Chikara. _I’m sorry if I offended you by punching you in the kidney in front of your friends. I didn’t mean for the little guy—”_

“Nishinoya,” Asahi corrected quickly, slightly embarrassed. “He doesn’t like being called short. That might get you points off with his friends.”

“Why do you know all of this, Asahi!?” Yui snapped, making Asahi yelp.

“Because he does a better job at making conversations at three in the morning!” Suga shot back, and waved her off. He had to concentrate if he was going to help his best friend fix her own mistakes. “Be sure to change that. Now keep reading.”

Yui grumbled. “ _I didn’t mean for_ Nishinoya _to laugh at you so hard. Luckily, your bald friend—_ ”

“Tanaka.”

“Tanaka _was there to hold you back before I punched you again. To be fair, you punched back. I wasn’t expecting that. It was a good punch, though. I swear that I don’t usually do this to people, but I think you’ll understand when you’re up writing a procrastinated essay at three in the morning next year. Don’t lie to me and say you won’t—_ ”

“Don’t give yourself excuses,” Sugawara told her firmly. Yui frowned at him.

“But that’s my favorite part,” she protested, and stared at her letter anxiously, running a hand through her short hair. “What if he thinks I’m a bully? That I’m some sort of… delinquent? I spent forever trying to fix that last year!”

“You’re just apologizing. Maybe even making friendly conversation! You’ve just gotta own up to what you did and maybe you can make him see what a cool person you are.” Sugawara beamed at her, proud, and crossed his hands over his chest. “Besides! I think you two could become really good friends.”

“He has a point,” Asahi offered, stroking his beard contemplatively. “I mean, who else would get into an actual fistfight for a 3AM roast chicken?” At the thought, a sheet of silence fell over the three friends.

Sugawara definitely wouldn’t, that was for sure. Asahi? Absolutely not. Would Dad? No, not in a million years. Uncle Ukai? Uh… maybe, though Sugawara was pretty sure he would take the chicken with little battle. Uncle Ukai could get really scary when he wanted to. If somebody was about to fight _Dad_ for a chicken, and Uncle Ukai was there, then that changed _everything_ …

A couple moments of collective pondering later, the group sighed to themselves. “W-Well, whatever.” Yui kicked her feet out and propped them over Sugawara’s legs in a leisurely manner, throwing her head back. “Aaaagh! Why don’t we just go find them and I can wing it, okay? You two can back me up if I say anything stupid.”

Sugawara swallowed. He was afraid of Yui winging anything. She winged life being adopted into a high-class family and nearly didn’t make friends her entire high school career. She winged being captain of the volleyball team and nearly scared off all of the freshmen. She winged her Chemistry essay and it got her into a physical fight in a supermarket.

Sugawara and Asahi glanced at each other. Well, they had been backing her up through all of those things, and they turned out okay in the end. It couldn’t have been _that_ bad of an idea.

“Right!” Yui threw herself off the bed and stretched, ready. She then spun around Asahi with a determined expression. “Let’s do this!”

“W-W-Wait, _right now_?” Asahi stammered, fumbling in his chair.

“Of course, _right now_ , dummy! Call up your new friends and tell them Yui wants to talk! And make sure they don’t forget Ennoshita! I don’t want to see him chickening out on this!” She stopped for a moment, and then her confident expression broke for a moment as she giggled, “hehe, _chicken_.”

As Asahi obediently took out his phone, Sugawara froze in place. He wasn’t ready for this yet. He didn’t have a plan! “But Yui, I’m not sure if I can _really_ just—”

“God, Koushi, don’t worry about it!” A hand fell forward and ruffled his hair playfully, and he looked up to the sight of Yui’s smiling face. “If anyone can be a great coach, it’s our very own resident heartbreaker!”

“ _Please_ don’t call me that,” Sugawara begged.

“Well, it’s true.” Yui brushed the comment off. “You’re a natural socialite, Suga. I swear, you could charm your way into anyone’s life! Like a doctor’s. Or a business owner’s. Or a _lawyer_ ’s.” She thought for a moment. “Wait, on second thought, no law majors. But a _doctor_ , Koushi.”

Sugawara scoffed. “You’re only saying that because you’re studying medicine.”

“We’re tough people. We need people like you to coach us through life and save us from our sleepless nights!” Yui winked at him. “But, you know, in a different way with whoever they are.”

Sugawara flushed red and shook his head, sending a pleading look to Asahi who was blinking in confusion at whatever was on his phone. “I’m going to forget you said that. Besides, I’ll date whoever I want. And this isn’t about me, this about you and your chicken victim.”

“Yeah, well, you really are good at this stuff, Koushi. Maybe you should switch to counselling or something.”

Well, it was between children and counselling adults who had problems with being adults, and Sugawara found children to be much cuter. Not to mention Sugawara was probably one of those adults. He had trouble thinking of anyone who wasn’t, really.

“I… I got a meeting,” Asahi interrupted them, holding up his phone, showing a huge contrast between his minuscule text and the essays whoever he was talking to was sending him. “I think? It’s kind of hard to read his texts. We should probably get going.”

“Alright!” Yui cheered, and pumped a fist. She turned around and picked Sugawara off of her bed, giving him a good clap on the arm. “Chin up, Koushi! This was all your idea, just remember that.”

“Yui, maybe we should talk about this more…” _And what?_ Sugawara thought. Go through another hour of going around in circles with failed apologies and dramatic name disasters? Make Asahi cancel a meeting he knew the poor man had struggled through half a layer of anxiety to get? Trust Yui with planning?

 _Oh, get over it, Suga,_ he told himself. _Think of it as… life preparation. That’s what you’re supposed to do at college, isn’t it? Yeah! Expect the unexpected! You’ll never be prepared for everything!_

“Oh, fine.” Sugawara threw his hands up. “ _Fine_. Let’s do this!”

Asahi gave a weak whimper.

As they were dragged out of the girl dormitory, Sugawara had the sinking feeling that he would regret this later.

 

* * *

 

 

Tobio was talking to a girl.

Had Sugawara not known otherwise, he would have started making assumptions at his socially awkward companion making conversation with such a beautiful young lady, though it didn’t change the fact that he was surprised about the situation. Instead, he shook his head, rubbed his eyes, and blinked several times before realizing that, yes, Tobio was… easily talking to someone his age.

Sugawara only had a couple wonderful moments to marvel proudly, before Tobio spotted him and pulled his attention from the girl. “You made it,” he said, and narrowed his eyes. “You look…”

“Come on, Tobio, it’s six in the morning,” Sugawara said, stuffing his hands into his coat pockets. He turned to Tobio’s companion, who was well-dressed in a sleek black dress beneath her burly coat. “I hope she’s not your date.”

“She’s not!” Tobio shot back, though immediately retreated, earning them a glance from the girl in question.

“Sawamura is my schoolmate,” she said in a smooth voice. Her eyes were keen and mature behind her glasses, not dimming the sharpness of her gaze. Though, she turned away slightly at eye contact. “He and his brother were just picking me up. My family owns this café.”

Sugawara glanced up at the modest structure of the Loud Lion and lit up in recognition. “Oh, you’re the Shimizus’ daughter! I didn’t know you knew our Tobio!” Sugawara said with a smirk, and nudged the embarrassed boy next to him. “Well, it’s always great to see him making friends. Wait until I tell Akaashi—”

“Excuse us,” Tobio said, right before he pulled Sugawara aside and bat the scowl off his face. He went through a series of constipated expressions before settling back to just plain scowling at Sugawara’s mischievous expression. “Stop looking so happy about this! She’s a friend of my brother’s friend. It’s not like we’re in the same class.”

“No, no, It’s just funny that the first classmate I really see you hanging out with is a girl who looks as if she’s ready to go out on a date with you!” Sugawara snickered, and Tobio fumed.

“Shut up! You came all this way at six in the morning and dressed up better than I’ve ever seen you just because my brother asked!” Tobio waved down at the formal button down and dress pants Sugawara had thrown on just twenty minutes earlier.

“Erk—!” Sugawara choked. It wasn’t as if he did it to impress a stupid crush; Daichi had sent him a warning text to dress nice right after he hung up. Though, Sugawara had still obeyed with little complaint. “O-Okay fine, just keep it down.” Tobio did so by huffing and crossing his arms moodily. “I still didn’t expect to see one of your classmates here, Tobio. Do you know her well?”

“Hmph. Not really,” Tobio confessed, rubbing his neck. “She’s in a college-course class, so it’s not like we have a reason to talk. We both know the same person, though.”

“What were you guys talking about earlier then?” Sugawara asked, curious.

Tobio shrugged. “I dunno. I just asked her a couple questions about the concert.”

Sugawara was starry-eyed again.

“Stop that!” Tobio snapped, causing Sugawara to chuckle. “She’s easier to talk to! She doesn’t speak at a hundred words per second like _some_ people—”

“Hey, Suga!”

His head whipped around at the sound of Daichi’s voice, and was immediately hit by the heavenly smell of hot coffee, a blessing for his 6AM mind. He marveled at Daichi’s smug face behind the offering before taking it in one swipe and downing it.

“Wow, you look like hell,” Daichi said, and Sugawara found enough coffee-induced energy to glare at his friend. Daichi had enough courtesy to be embarrassed. “Yeah, yeah, sorry about waking you up so early.”

Finishing the coffee with a satisfied sigh, Sugawara decided he would spare the early bird dramatics. Lev made some amazing coffee for a manager. 

“ _You look like hell_ ,” Tobio mocked in his brother’s deeper tone, as if dissatisfied with his current answer, and Sugawara elbowed him hard.

“Well, Mr. Morning Enthusiast?” Sugawara chided Daichi. “Do I win an explanation for why I’m here?”

“You didn’t tell him?” Daichi said to his younger brother, who glared back.

“Why don’t you—”

“Oh, no you don’t,” Sugawara cut in, startling Daichi when he stepped between him and Tobio. “ _You_ made me get dressed up at five in the morning to drag myself over her by six so don’t expect to put this onto your little brother.” Tobio muffled a laugh and Sugawara shot him a glare as well. “I’m not done with you,” he promised.

“I’m going to stand next to Kiyoko,” Tobio said and quickly walked away. With that, Sugawara felt a heavy weight lift off his chest and a flare of vengeance hit him both at once.

“Hmph.” Daichi puffed his chest out proudly. “He’s gotten so much better at talking to people now. The two of them could spend hours in the same room without saying a word, you know.”

“Daichi,” Sugawara said in a tone that best reflected his displeasure, defeating Daichi’s upbeat change of pace. “I have about a million questions for you right now and I’m pretty sure you could answer half of them just by explaining what we’re doing right now.”

“It’s going to be a long morning, Suga, let’s take it slow,” Daichi told him. “I’ll do a better job at just showing you, anyways. There’s someone I want you to meet.”

 _Someone?_ Sugawara thought suddenly. _Someone like what? A long-lost family member? Another dramatically confusing ex?_ A sudden thought dawned over Suga. _The older sister of Tobio’s classmate?_

Wait, then Tobio would have been angrier at Daichi. Unless he found someone else to matchmake. Someone better than Suga. Maybe the girl Sugawara had convinced him was more Daichi’s type. Or…

 _Stop overcomplicating things, Suga._ Wow, his coffee was getting to his head already.

Sugawara took a look at Daichi’s charming expression to say something, but immediately turned away. Daichi was good at that, too good. Sugawara needed to collect his thoughts.

Well, this was certainly going differently than he expected. Potential breakfast date plans had been crushed the moment he saw Tobio and this wasn’t any sort of family outing that Sugawara could tell. Though Daichi looked excited enough for Sugawara to get curious, so… “Could this be the mysterious middleman between Tobio and Kiyoko?”

“Could it be?” Daichi echoed in an equally questioning voice, faking thoughtfulness.

“I can go home,” Sugawara warned, waving to the bags under his eyes. “Back to bed.”

“Yes, yes, it is!” Daichi said quickly, flustered. Sugawara grinned to himself. Now that was much better. “A good friend of mine from Tokyo, actually. We helped each other a lot through university years.”

“Huh, really?” Come to think of it, this was the first person Sugawara would know that knew Daichi in Tokyo. Self-awareness hit him like a truck, and he looked down at his and Daichi’s formal wear. _Wait a minute._ “Daichi, what does this friend… _do_ exactly?”

“You’ll like him, I promise!” Daichi swore, began to walk Sugawara over to where Kiyoko and Tobio stood down the sidewalk. “He’s a pretty levelheaded guy; he just needs help in some places. Well. A lot of places. I think it’s best if you meet him first.”

“That sounds like a good idea, actually,” Sugawara replied. “Is this one going to smash a glass and make Tobio want to throw a chair?”

“God, no,” Daichi said, cringing at the memory. “He might give you these creepy puppy eyes, though. They can be quite powerful.”

“Please, Daichi, I’m an elementary school teacher.” Sugawara told him off with the wave of his hand. “I’m a master.”

Daichi rolled his eyes at Sugawara’s cheeky expression, which wasn’t appreciated at all until Sugawara found something else being held out right under his nose. Suspicious, he took the slip of paper from Daichi’s hand and asked, “Is this insurance for if I do disapprove of him?”

“No, that’s today’s destination,” Daichi said. “It can be insurance too, if you want. Advance payment, or maybe a bonus incentive.”

“You cheat,” Sugawara said, though smiling. “Do you even like… like… Oh.”

Whoa. That _definitely_ wasn’t something he was expecting. He should have, though. He really should have, after what Tobio said earlier.

When Sugawara choked on his words, Daichi gave a smug smirk. “Hidden depths, Suga. Hidden depths.”

“Are you two ready?” Kiyoko’s voice rung out when they approached. Looking up from the ticket in his hand, he noticed the girl stand up straighter at the prospect of leaving. “It’s going to start in an hour.”

“Oh,” Sugawara said, slipping the ticket away safely. “Of course.”

 

* * *

 

 

If Daichi knew anything about himself, he knew he was proud. He was proud of his business, he was proud of his brother, his friends, his employees, the things he had strived through, and everything beyond. Of course, he had plenty not to be proud about (unsuccessful relationship trainwreck, last October’s sales, the rest of his family), but he had learned over time not to let his emotions get ahead of him.

Maybe that’s why he couldn’t keep a girlfriend.

Yuri sure thought that was why. _Passion, Daichi! You’re a gourmet robot!_ Yeah, well, there was a reason why she wasn’t his girlfriend anymore. He had better people to dedicate his time to.

“You know, Daichi, concerts are much more romantic in the evening,” Sugawara told him, finally snapping his attention away from the Karasuno Theatre. It seemed as if he was over fanboying over the concert hall and immediately went back to Daichi. Daichi wasn’t sure if he should be flattered or offended.

“I agree,” Kiyoko put simply.

“God _dammit_ , Daichi,” Tobio hissed. _Quit fucking this up_ , unsaid under his breath. _As if he didn’t know the actual reason why they were here_.

“I have to get in there,” Sugawara said, watching the steady flow of morning concert-goers file into the hall, eyes lit. “Daichi, you’re taking us in there, aren’t you? What are we standing around here for?”

“Soon would be nice,” Kiyoko told him, a glint of anticipation in her glance.

“ _Daichi_ ,” Tobio growled.

“All of you calm down,” Daichi snapped. He crossed his arms and counted off his small group for each ticket in his hand: threatening-looking younger brother, beautiful young daughter of his favorite café owners, and new, better, _cooler_ best friend. Also kind of pretty in his own sense.

He approved of his companions internally. Yeah, Daichi had a good group.

“You two,” he pointed to the two high schoolers. “Don’t wander off. Kiyoko, I’m not sure what your parents will do to me if I lose you; I kind of depend on their coffee to survive. And Tobio… just… look normal.”

Tobio scowled.

“ _Not_ like that,” Daichi told him, and Sugawara pat the boy on the shoulder reassuringly.

“Don’t worry, Tobio. Just stick next to Daichi and you and glare off any potential suitors!” Sugawara offered, with a smirk that only told Daichi that he was half on Tobio’s side, though his younger brother seemed more pleased nonetheless.

“I think it’s Daichi who needs to stay away from the potential suitors,” Tobio said flatly.

Kiyoko covered a chuckle.

Daichi wasn’t approving anymore. “What’s with you taking Suga’s side in everything now?” Daichi said.

“I do not!” Tobio argued immediately. “He still needs to eat better! But that’s where you come in, isn’t it?”

“That’s just common fact; I’m performing a community service.” (“Hey!”) “And stop suggesting I throw myself at girls! I haven’t even had a girlfriend in three months.”

That must have sounded a lot sadder than he intended, because Sugawara and Kiyoko’s gazes shifted to those of pity. Tobio glanced at Sugawara and raised an eyebrow. Okay, he took it back, he took it all back. He wasn’t proud of any three of these friends. He had the worst friends in existence.

“He’s joking,” Daichi clarified to Sugawara, who merely sighed and shook his head, but when he lifted his head, he gave Daichi a warm smile.

“Oh, don’t worry about it, Daichi,” Sugawara reassured him, and stepped over to give his arm a gentle squeeze. Then, with a silky voice, said, “You know there’s no way any of us will let you loose on these girls! Now, sorry.” He carefully swiped a ticket of Daichi’s hand. “I’m getting impatient. The music is calling me. Come along!”

Before he could erase the trance Sugawara’s charm had thrown him into, his friend was already making his way up the theatre steps, leaving him with two dumbfounded teenagers.

Daichi met Tobio’s gaze and pointed at him. “You’re in trouble when we get home.”

“…This is Attack Tobio day, isn’t it?” Tobio grumbled. “You better get Sugawara-san to come back with us, then.”

“We’re already bringing people back to the restaurant, remember?” Daichi reminded him, and that, despite his brother’s usual stubbornness, seemed to get Tobio to give in.

“Whatever, I’m following Sugawara-san,” Tobio said, waved goodbye to Kiyoko, and dashed off to where Sugawara had disappeared to.

When the younger girl had stepped up to his side to watch Tobio’s retreating back, Daichi sighed and said, “He forgot his ticket.”

“He’ll wait there,” Kiyoko said in an as-a-matter-of-fact tone, unfazed. “I would say it’s because he hasn’t changed since we last met, but he has. Just in different ways.” At that, she looked up at Daichi with a more knowing face, a small smile over her features. “Well, it is much more interesting, now.”

Well, it must have been, Daichi was actually starting to wonder when Kiyoko didn’t put up an immediate protest to not going into the concert hall immediately. She had certainly grown, the girl never wanted to wait to go into these recitals when she was younger. “Aren’t you going to follow him?” Daichi questioned, catching the girl off-guard for a second. “Anyways, do you think you’re going to be alright in there?”

Kiyoko shrugged, rubbing her arms tensely. “It’s fine. I’ll just focus on her.”

“That’s good.” Very good. “You’re excited to be here, aren’t you, Kiyoko? After all, it’s been a while since they’ve been back in town.”

“…Yes,” she admitted, if softly. Fixing her glasses briefly, she seemed to take a moment of thought. “I have kept in contact, though. They’ve been doing well up until recently, after all. Sawamura-san, is Sugawara-san…” She paused. “…Is it possible that you’re courting him?”

“No,” Daichi put immediately. Thankfully, Tobio’s constant pestering had prepared him for moments like these.

“You treat him well,” Kiyoko commented further, one perfect eyebrow raised.

“Suga deserves the good treatment,” Daichi said, a sense of pride stirring in him for his friend. He then glanced down at the three remaining tickets in his hand and continued, “…Most of the time. He’s good for Tobio, he’s been doing so much better lately.”

“As have you.”

Well, that was… admittedly true. Not even he could deny that anymore. He felt better about getting up at four thirty in the morning today than any other workday, even when he wasn’t working this morning. Mostly because he had received a call at midnight from someone who was _supposed_ to be in Tokyo crying about his life problems, and he had thrown himself out of bed early enough to call Suga and drag Tobio out of bed. And oddly enough through it all, he actually felt as if he had… slept better than before.

Not because he had been talking to someone until one in the morning and gotten three hours of sleep, or because he was  a man with a mission that involved dragging his new best friend to a morning recital by his self-proclaimed ex best friend’s request, no, it was because he had actually been sleeping well _the entire week_. Which made him realize that he had been going home at normal times for the _entire week_. Which made him look back on the entire _month_ , in which everything pretty much lead back to Suga.

Unlike Tobio claimed, it wasn’t because Sugawara was his fated partner or one true love. Sugawara was eccentric, intelligent, understanding, and above all, legitimately seemed to care about Daichi and Tobio. He was the kind of guy who knew when Tobio needed space or what to talk about, or how to get Daichi out of work without him even noticing, which was something. Daichi had no idea how Sugawara had been thrown into his life (Tobio’s fault, not that he was going to admit that), but he was glad it all happened.

Courting was an entirely different story. Something completely different.

Kiyoko slipped her ticket from Daichi’s hand.

“Wha— Not you too… Hey! I told you not to run off!” Daichi called after an impatient Kiyoko began climbing the steps.

He had almost forgotten this girl’s dedication in the midst of thinking of his own. He used to be able to keep these kids in one place just a couple years ago. Maybe this was Suga’s fault too.

 

* * *

 

 

At first, Sugawara wasn’t sure on how to react to a junior music concert being held at the grand-scale Karasuno Theatre. Two minutes in, he regretted every shred of doubt.

He should have realized the minute they sat down, and Sugawara had to thank Daichi a million times over in his head for reminding him to dress nice. Karasuno Theatre was massive, and it was filled quite greatly for an early show. Sugawara probably wouldn’t have been too distracted by anxiety-ridden thoughts to be able to pay attention had he shown up in lame casual attire.

And he was glad he could, to hear such powerful talent from children just around Tobio’s age was astounding, not that he would expect less from performances in the Karasuno theatre. He could hear the vivid flow of every note, from the heated battle of Beethoven’s Sonatas to the rich hums of Mozart’s violin arrangements. Sugawara could feel his heart against his chest after the end of every performance.

But no matter how entrancing the show was, he couldn’t help but wonder about why he was here. **Regional Junior Music Festival** was the last thing he really expected on tickets shoved into his face at six in the morning, but and he wasn’t happy about nobody explaining yet, either. It didn’t help noticing that Daichi and Tobio were getting more and more restless by the second and Kiyoko would not stop looking down at the pamphlet.

After the sixth performance, he had recovered enough from his musical euphoria to pull Daichi over and whisper, “Who are we waiting for?”

“Wait, wait,” Daichi promised, looking as proud as ever. “She’s next.”

“She?” Wait, it was a girl? That threw Sugawara for a loop, he could have sworn the person they were going to meet was…

He stopped thinking when the applause thundered and Kiyoko sat straight up in her chair, an entirely different expression taking over her face. Looking to his other side, Sugawara saw Tobio repressing what looked to be sentimentality and a quivering smile. Then there was Daichi, glancing at Suga and the stage and back like an excited puppy, as if he were trying to show something off.

Sugawara found the answer to his question in a girl in white. She was smaller than Sugawara expected, taking noticeable deep breaths, as if to calm a rushing pulse. Her presence was different from the still air of the other violinists, bright lights of the theatre creating fire in her eyes and casting a halo around her golden hair.

The girl smiled with visible effort, pink lips pressed fine, and gave a small bow to the applauding crowd.

“She seems… livelier than the others,” Sugawara muttered.

“Does she now?” Daichi replied,

“Huh?” Tobio’s voice piped up, seeming confused from next to Daichi. “Who’s that?” He asked, pointing down the accompanying pianist, someone Sugawara hadn’t even noticed until this point.

“Shhh,” Daichi shushed his brother. Kiyoko seemed too invested in the new development to pay attention to her surroundings. “She’s starting.” He gave a promising glance at Sugawara again, just to make sure he was watching, and then nestled back into his seat.

The theatre came to a deafening silence, and the girl gazed out into the crowd, where Sugawara could practically feel her heart racing just from the look in her eyes. After a quick announcement, she made a brave face, took a breath, and lifted her violin to her shoulder. At an urge to calm the secondhand heartbeat, Sugawara held his breath.

And when her bow touched the strings, she opened her eyes and changed.

Sugawara’s heart came to a sudden halt. Tsukishima Hitoka’s music was _gorgeous_.

 

* * *

 

 

“Hey! Akiteru!” Daichi waved above the bustling crowd, capturing the attention of the target blond across the room. A squirrely-looking man popped up, looking as if he had just come back from ten different places, relieved to see a friendly face.

He immediately jumped back up and swam through the crowd, meeting an equally excited Daichi in the middle. Sugawara stared at them, in wonder at how animated Sawamura “I keep overnight clothes in my office just in case” Daichi looked next to this half-dead friend of his. Actually, Sugawara was near ready to catch him if the poor man collapsed, his knees seemed to be shaking from overwork.

“Daichi!” The man—Akiteru— practically wheezed, an amical smile crossing his features despite such. “It’s so good to see you a _GPH_ —”

“Come on, Aki, you used to survive an hour of this mess on your feet,” Daichi told him in a disappointed tone, giving Akiteru a couple more wake up smacks on the shoulder. “Your sister could destroy that record holding you in one hand.”

“Well, that would be impressive seeing how hard it is to play the violin with one hand—”

“Akiteru,” Daichi interrupted the man, expression dull. “You’re starting to sound like Tobio. Stop.”

“Okay,” Sugawara finally cut in, as much as he enjoyed watching Daichi interact with this new face. It was a feeling he thought he had grown out of after seeing Daichi go after Asahi on such a frequent basis, but he found himself weaving between the two with a sense of protective instinct. “Daichi, stop bullying the poor pupp— man. The poor man.”

Akiteru looked up with the same puppy dog eyes he had been looking at Daichi with earlier, the ones Daichi had warned him about. It took every ounce of Sugawara’s inner Elementary School Teacher to neutralize it.

“What, this guy?” Daichi sighed and hooked an arm around Akiteru’s neck to bring him down to his level in a playful chokehold. At least, it seemed more passive-aggressive than playful. Sugawara didn’t miss the scheming glint in his eyes when he did it. “Don’t let his looks fool you, Suga, he’s not the kind of guy you think.”

“That’s funny, Daichi, I should have said the same to myself when I first met you,” Sugawara shot back.

“Alright, alright, you can stop that,” Daichi replied bumping Sugawara next to him. He took a breath and took another good look at Akiteru, his expression softening. “It’s good to see you again too, Aki. How’s this year’s trip to Karasuno treating you?”

“That’s a good boy,” Sugawara told him, and Daichi swat his shoulder.

“It’s… um… nice to be back. I think?” Akiteru looked skeptical. Of himself. Of everything, really. He looked at Daichi as if he may not be real, though that might have just been the exhaustion. “Yeah! Yeah, and I know what you’re thinking, but there’s no need to worry about—”

“No, we’re talking about that,” Daichi said firmly, showing off Sugawara to his right. “See?”

Akiteru blinked at Sugawara, searching his mind for something long forgotten. “Um… hello! Nice to meet you. I think?” And to Daichi, “ _Who is he?_ ”

“He’s great, you’ll love him,” Daichi bragged and rested a hand on Sugawara’s shoulder, the sudden contact making him jump.

“ _And!_ ” Sugawara interrupted, snagging Daichi’s hand at the slight speeding of his pulse. “You know, Daichi, as much I’m loving the secondhand appreciation, I would appreciate being a part of the conversation, wouldn’t I? What happened to introducing us? That’s pretty rude, Daichi. Taking a guy out and not even giving him the time of day?”

“Ah, well, you know, you get caught up in…” He turned to look at Sugawara’s panicked face and stopped. “Right… ahaha… ow,” Daichi whimpered, notifying Sugawara that he might be holding Daichi’s wrist a little too hard. He immediately dropped it light a hot coal. “Okay, ow, you’re really taking advantage of this carefree relationship, aren’t you?”

“Trust me, it wasn’t an easy role to get into,” Sugawara huffed. _For the first part, you know. When you were god on earth to me. Better off knowing you cried during Hope Floats_.

Sugawara noticed Akiteru giving him a curious look, and then turning back to Daichi, and to Sugawara, and back. “He’s got a point, Daichi,” Akiteru finally said, seeming to be satisfied with the subject and waved to himself. “Introduce the guy to your best friend!”

Daichi narrowed his eyes at the blond. “New best friend,” Daichi told Sugawara, clapping him on the back. “Meet ex-best friend.”

Sugawara felt a twinge in his chest at the sudden title, though it was easy to label it as a joke at the sight of Akiteru’s eyes downcast. It only slightly disappointed him. Just a little. “It was just one favor…”

“I’m glad to have been upgraded,” Sugawara said, playing along. It _was_ much better than last week’s _Charity Case_. Nonetheless, Sugawara held out his hand. “Sugawara Koushi, and you’re Akiteru, right?” He glanced at his newly dubbed best friend accusatorily. “Daichi’s told me nothing about you.”

“Don’t push it,” Daichi warned.

Despite the tease, Akiteru shook Sugawara’s hand and gave him a dim smile. “Tsukishima Akiteru. I haven’t heard much about you either, I suppose.”

“Hey!” Sugawara told Daichi.

“I’ve talked about you plenty of times!” Daichi defended himself, looking half guilty and half offended. “I’ve learned that anonymity is much appreciated by many. But if you guys really want to go that way…” Daichi waved over to Akiteru. “He and I were friends in university. His sister was up on stage earlier. Little Hitoka. Wasn’t she great? She was _spectacular_. Right?”

“Stop fawning over my little sister, Daichi,” Akiteru scolded his friend. Sugawara was about to follow up on the tease, but Akiteru turned to him, eyes flashing. “ _I’m_ her biggest fan, but Daichi always wants to like _he’s_ a big shot because he used to babysit her and Kei—”

“Excuse _me_ for your sister being so utterly precious,” Daichi snapped back. He then threw his brave face on, and Sugawara knew with agony that this was Daichi’s competitive face. “Which is great, but you know, Tobio was able to master this seafood dish he and I spent _ages_ learning and even Asahi’s jealous now. And don’t get me started about his _puplo a la gallega_ —”

“Hitoka’s been on three trips around Japan in the past two months. She’s been working so hard, you know, if only you could hear her _Kreutzer_ —”

“He’s going to do so well in the kitchen one day! Seems like that’s where all of our scary employees go to brood. But you know, studies come first, and volleyball’s been taking off _so well_ lately with that Hinata boy—”

“And Kei’s been at the keys ever since! It’s like he’s looking to play for her. I know he loves her even though he doesn’t say it—”

 _I need to get out of here_ , Sugawara thought desperately to himself, unable to ignore the cold swear on his neck. While Tobio’s way with octopus dishes _was_ pretty amazing, but it was becoming clearer and clearer on why these two were best friends (used to be? Sugawara’s understanding of the qualifications was pretty vague) and his cool image of Akiteru was dissolving by the second.

Panicked, his eyes darted around the thinned crowd, and his attention was soon caught by a familiar head of golden hair and a shaky smile. _Hitoka_ , he thought, realization dawning and his heart racing in awe. _The girl who played Love’s Sorrow_. She was flailing quite unprofessionally before Tobio and Kiyoko, and next to a bespectacled boy whose head who seemed to be her other older brother.

Quickly, he signaled to the group. Luckily, Tobio noticed, as alert as ever to Sugawara’s every move. He waved to Hitoka and said something brief.

“Aah!” Sugawara could hear Hitoka yelp, and she turned to him with a face brighter than a fire hydrant. He almost felt bad about frantically pointing to Akiteru and Daichi raving next to him, which only made her give a louder, “AAAAHHH! AKI-NII, DON’T!”

“ _Daichi!_ ” Tobio snapped, realizing the nature of the situation, and the two brothers were apprehended immediately with a cavalry lead by a cheering Sugawara. He wouldn’t deny it was his most favorite part of the outing.

“Hm.” Came a voice amongst the battle, from the Tsukishima with the cold eyes. “Lame.”

At such a simple grunt, Sugawara became curious.

 

* * *

 

 

“H-H- _HELLO!_ ” Sugawara’s heart leapt at the pitch of Hitoka’s voice. “I-I’m Tsukishima Hitoka and I’m very happy you could come today um… umh… S-Sir…”

“Sugawara Koushi,” Sugawara told her carefully.

“I-I’m sorry!” Hitoka gasped. She saw Tobio cringe and then slapped a hand over her mouth. “I mean, I… I’m sorry if I’ve forgotten one of Daichi-san’s important f-friends. It’s been so busy and I haven’t been able to keep up with everything and I try to make sure I remember everyone but then everything happened! And Aki-nii had the… the _things_ and the _problems_ and the _concert_ I didn’t even remember to remember everyone’s names—”

“Hito—”

Hitoka’s hands grasped her once-proper hair. “Oh no, oh no, you probably helped me out sometime a couple years ago? Didn’t you? I’m so sorry I don’t remember! I can’t even remember any of Kei’s friends’ names! Even though Kiyoko-chan and S—”

 “ _Hitoka_.”

“ _HITOKA!_ ”

 “Hitoka-nee.”

“A-Aaah!!” Hitoka looked ready to bolt before Sugawara shot out and held her in place, shushing her to relax. She took a couple breaths and looked around at her circle of friends, Kiyoko and Tobio looking at her expectantly. “Oh… I’m… I’m really nervous today.”

Kei narrowed his eyes at his sister and clicked his tongue, all before running off and disappearing into the crowd again, leaving them like that.

Sugawara raised an eyebrow at Daichi and Akiteru, who had seen the display as well. Daichi shrugged back with a _what-can-you-do-expression_ and Sugawara made a mental note to make Daichi pay him a meal for every time he didn’t completely answer any of Sugawara’s questions today.

“A-Anyways!” Akiteru jumped in. “We’re going to be staying in Karasuno for a while for, um, reasons! Hitoka’s all done with her trips for the next couple weeks and we thought it would be nice to hand around and um… meet old friends! Take a break, you know.” He gave a painfully strained smile, and before Sugawara could question it, Akiteru turned to him and said, “I hope you don’t mind, really. I wouldn’t want to intrude.”

Sugawara raised an eyebrow. Why was Akiteru looking for his permission? He glanced at Daichi, who seemed to be giving Akiteru the same glare he had been giving him all morning. “No, not at all. I’ll make sure Daichi doesn’t bully you too much.”

“R-Really?”

“Yes,” Tobio interrupted, a small smirk barely visible on his face. “He will.”

“You know I control your allowance,” Daichi said, and to Sugawara, “and your meal intake.”

Sugawara elbowed Daichi in the arm with an incredulous expression. “Trust me, you owe me much more than I’m paying off right now,” Sugawara told him. Over Daichi’s shoulder, he caught the place in the crowd where Kei had disappeared to earlier and asked, “How is Kei? I mean…” He turned to Hitoka. “Your other older brother seems—”

Kiyoko stifled a giggle and Hitoka’s expression fell, and Sugawara knew he had made his first mistake.

“He’s… he’s not…”

“Kei’s finishing fifth grade this year,” Akiteru told Sugawara, who felt his stomach drop.

“He’s… he’s twelve?” Sugawara saw Hitoka blanche whiter. “ _Eleven?_ ” Oh god, that was one tall eleven year old. This was worse than when he first met Tobio. This was much worse.

Hitoka swallowed. “I’m… going to be seventeen this year!”

 _Oh my god,_ _she’s so small!_ Sugawara looked at Kiyoko and Tobio for confirmation, and the two of them held guilty expressions only those younger than the girl between them could hold. Even Kiyoko? Really? Why wasn’t anyone the age they looked like?

Though, at looking at Kiyoko, he also saw the slight drag of her nails over her crossed arms. Now that he thought about it, she looked much more nervous than she should have. Sugawara must have been staring noticeably, because Hitoka caught on quickly.

“Kiyoko-chan,” Hitoka said, grabbing the younger’s attention. “Do you want to leave?”

“It’s fine,” Kiyoko promised, and her knuckles whitened. “The crowd is just—”

“No, I think it’s a good idea,” Daichi jumped in, voice dropping to an authoritative one. “It’s alright, Kiyoko. We should be leaving soon anyway.”

“A good trip to the restaurant seems like a good idea,” Sugawara said, glancing at Daichi supportively. “Since some people don’t have the decency to warn people about early shows and leave them starving all morning.”

“If you’re so willing to brag about the food around here,” Akiteru added. Daichi only gave a passive huff.

Kiyoko looked slightly fazed, uncrossing and crossing her arms, before sighing in defeat. “That’s good. I have practice his afternoon and the energy will be appreciated.”

“That’s what I’d say,” Tobio grumbled, approving, and Hitoka smiled brightly at her friend.

Sugawara felt satisfied by that point, but something was still bothering him.

He figured it out right before they left, and Kei returned, sporting the same dull expression he had left with. As Sugawara was contemplating how to see him as five years younger than he had originally labelled him to be, all of those thoughts came to a pause as he held up a cold paper cup of water to Hitoka. Her face lit up and she immediately drank it all with a grateful vigor.

No one seemed fazed by the action. Akiteru glowed with pride and Daichi sighed knowingly, all while Hitoka looped him in an appreciative hug. Kei looked vaguely unappreciative of all of it, and bat his sister off with minimal effort.

The youngest Tsukishima only changed expression when everyone had turned, and he saw Tobio glare at him intensely, like he was challenging the boy. Sugawara flinched when Kei stifled a mocking laugh right in Tobio’s face and Sugawara only had a second to grab Tobio’s arm to keep him from going at the younger boy.

Tobio had enough trouble with elementary schoolers already. Sugawara resisted the urge to grovel about it.

 

* * *

 

Lunch was a simple affair. Sugawara was left in charge of Akiteru duty as Daichi went off to clean up his usual restaurant business, as usual. It was after his disappearance, combined with his strong effort to keep from fretting about the mystery Tsukishimas, that he realized that Daichi must have actually  _put off work_ to be at that concert.

The only other instance Sugawara knows about in which this happened was on Tobio's birthday. Sugawara could safely compare the Tsukishimas at a similar level of importance as Tobio. Apparently, college was an important time for Daichi, if it got him a friend like this. 

He had to stop thinking so hard about Daichi.

When the man in question returned to the dining area, Sugawara was staring intently at an eleven year old from across the counter.

“Suga,” Daichi said, jolting his friend back to reality. “You’re going to creep Kei out.”

Instead of responding, Sugawara grabbed his arm and pulled Daichi down to his level. “I need to talk to you,” Sugawara said urgently, his hand tight around Daichi’s wrist.

Surprised, Daichi slowly back into the open stool next to Sugawara’s, not too far from where Akiteru was talking hushed to Kei.

“I’m worried,” Sugawara said, hushed.

“I haven’t even told you what Akiteru needed yet,” Daichi replied, worry rising at the pit of his stomach.

“No, no, I mean about… I don’t know how well my kids will fare around Kei,” Sugawara told Daichi. He looked slightly guilty, as if he needed to fix the situation all by himself. “Not that Kei’s… Well, let’s just say I know Tobio. I’ve seen them interact with him. I’m not sure how Kei will take hanging out with them, or if it’ll make things better or worse. I feel, well, hm…” He turned his attention back to Kei.

Daichi scoffed and pat Sugawara’s shoulder. “Take some of your own advice and have a little faith, Suga. That’s what you’re always telling me to do with Tobio, you know.”

Sugawara sighed, but seemed to relax, much to Daichi’s relief. “That boy is intense.”

“Kei or Tobio?”

“Both of them,” Sugawara commented. “I swear, Tobio’s going to find a way to murder Kei with a volleyball one day and it’ll all be because I have him those spiking tips in that birthday notebook. And Akiteru would be devastated, and Hitoka will cry. God, I don’t want her to cry. And then Kiyoko would be so upset, and…” Sugawara stood up, alert. “I have to find them.”

“Nope, sit,” Daichi pulled Sugawara back into his seat and gave him a dissatisfied expression. “I swear, Akiteru and Hitoka are rubbing off on you. Clam down.” _And if you’re panicking, I’ll panic, and then we’ll never be able to survive this whole ordeal._

“You’re right, you’re right, sorry about that.” Sugawara took a deep breath and sat up straight. “So, Tobio and Kiyoko went to show Hitoka all of the new sights, by the way. I think they’ll be back this afternoon.” He then looked at Daichi with something more serious. “And now that they’re gone, I think it’s time to explain my role in all of this is.”

Daichi swallowed. Oh. Right. “Well…”

“Because I know I have a role. You wouldn’t have called me with favors at five in the morning if you didn’t. And, you know, I don’t really like being locked out of loop, Daichi. Which is what I felt like for a majority of this morning.” Sugawara, after a pause, managed to shoot Daichi one of his sweetest smiles, the ones that made him choke on his words and his hands sweat. “You know I already have a best friend, right? You’re going to have to put up a better fight that this.”

“Suga, I’m going to have to apologize in advance—”

“Trust me, I know.”

 

* * *

 

 

Kei allowed his brother to be taken with disgusted understanding. This wasn’t pleasing.

They pulled Akiteru over to a corner table. The moment they sat down, Sugawara and Daichi on one side and Akiteru lone on the other, the blond went stone stiff. It was the most frightened Sugawara had seen the man all day and nothing about it calmed his worries.

“So, Aki,” Daichi began carefully, folding his hands on the table before him. “We’ve been avoiding this all day…”

Akiteru trembled.

“But it’s time you came out with how you screwed up with Saeko—”

Akiteru broke so suddenly Sugawara was surprised when he began to sob into his hands.

The event had to be paused momentarily as Daichi went off to make him a drink and Sugawara had to sit by him and rub soothing circles into his back as he babbled unintelligently about a lot of things Sugawara was sure he was going to regret asking about later.

 _And this is why I became an elementary school teacher instead._ Daichi owed him a friend date for this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This should bring the endless stream of new characters to a halt at the moment so we can focus on more plot things, the joys of ending an introductory arc after all!
> 
> ALSO: for those of you who don't know I have a little writing blog!! there's actually like really little on it right now BUT I also kind of figured that with all of the twists and turns in this fic some people might get confused on who's who's what. So I made [a little character guide](http://metisink.tumblr.com/post/112960419519/this-will-be-names-dates-and-other-things)! Okay it's not little it's actually really long but there's some trivia on it too if you wanna keep up. The ask box is also open there so feel free to ask anything!! 
> 
> THANK YOU ALL for your endless support and loving comments, you have no idea how much it meets to me. It really keeps me going and gets me excited to share more with you all. YOU'RE THE BEST. YES, YOU.


	9. i know something about love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Akiteru tells a story, Sugawara is not a love guru, and Tobio doesn't understand girls.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS IS REALLY LATE but also long but HEY! in the meantime, there's a chapter expectancy! holy shit??  
> Sometimes I just sit in my little couch with my grape juice and think about the days TWB was supposed to be a oneshot, yknow. This thing is going to be 20 chapters or less??  
> But why, Lynn? How did this happen? Yeeeaaahh It's literally a long story. You should read it.  
> Alternatively summarized: Sawamura Tobio's really terrible no good best day ever.

“Okay.” Akiteru fixed his sleeves for the twentieth time and turned around to his best friend. “How do I look?”

There was a terrible silence as Daichi and Tobio examined the man before them, slowly picking at the French fries nested on the bar counter between them. It was a pretty lazy day at the Flightless Crow, just like every other day since Daichi opened shop. He had to look very closely at his best friend to understand how quirky he could be when sales were so low.

Still, the muffled chatter of the handful of customers around them just seemed to make Akiteru even more rigid; Daichi needed to put him out of his misery. “Same as two hours ago,” he told his friend. “Did you part your hair to the other side again?”

“Does it matter?” Tobio asked apathetically. He seemed more focused on the snack Daichi had made than Akiteru’s fashion sense.

“Are you kidding?” Akiteru stared wide eyed at the twelve year old, flustered, and then at his best friend, who was still plowing through the basket of fries. “Okay, you.” He pointed at Daichi. “You wouldn’t understand, Mr. Fifty First Dates. I don’t know why I’m even asking you. Come on, Tobio, this is important. Do you realize how hard it was to get her to agree to this date?”

“You mean how hard it was for you to ask her in the first place?” Daichi scoffed, turning away from Akiteru’s spiteful glare. “I mean, you really tried buying flowers from a different store for her. Aki, she owns a flower shop.”

“I couldn’t buy them from there! Do you realize how awkward that is!? Who buys someone flowers from their own store!?”

“Buy the entire stock! She’d probably propose to you on the spot! Hell, I’d probably marry you if you bought the entire menu every day.” Daichi sighed to himself, looking around the slow-moving restaurant. He hated the sight of a thin crowd; it made him wonder how his dad had done the business.

He tore his gaze from his fretful friend and to his brother, and prodded the basket of fries out of Tobio’s hands just as they had snatched up another handful of fries. “Don’t eat too much before dinner,” he told him, and moved the basket to the other side of the counter.

Tobio glared at his brother, stuffing the remainder of the fries into his mouth. Tobio really did need to stop eating, or else he would be even taller than Daichi himself one day. The kid already outgrew his first middle school uniform.

Irritated, Tobio swerved around to Akiteru with a blunt, “If she’s going to dump you because your hair’s going the other way then why are you dating her in the first place?”

“We’re not dating!” Akiteru hissed, flustered. “Not yet. She’s… I want to look good for her, okay?”

“Why?” Tobio asked, scrunching his face up. “If you’re dating you gotta dress up like that every day? That’s stupid.”

“No! No, I mean, it’s respectful! I want to show her I care!”

“Does she play volleyball? Just impress her with your skill.” Tobio asked, and Daichi almost lost it then. “I can lend you one of mine.”

“I don’t think we’re going to be dressed to play volleyball…”

“Then what’s the point of wearing that!?”

Honestly, Daichi could have stood there all day to watch Akiteru try and explain dating to Tobio, but he was pretty glad that someone came in to save him just then. The chime of the front door made Akiteru yelp, gracing him with a few suspicious looks from curious customers, who all turned to see who Daichi recognized to be a young Shimizu Kiyoko by the door. At the sign of someone other than Saeko, Akiteru deflated, unsure whether to be disappointed or relieved.

“…Sorry,” Kiyoko said, stepping back out from the watchful eyes. “If you want me to come back at a later time, then…”

“No, no, it’s fine!” Daichi called back to her, and Tobio was already sliding out of his seat. “Akiteru’s sister is hanging out in the kitchen, if you want to go meet her now. She’s a little older than you, but it’s hard to tell, anyway.” Kiyoko gave a light nod, and Daichi turned to his younger brother. “Shimizu, this is Tobio, my younger brother. You two should be in the same grade. Tobio, go show her the way.”

“…Fine,” Tobio said, though without much fight. But Daichi heard a muffled, “So, do you know how to play volleyball?” and sighed.

He disappeared with Kiyoko into the back, leaving Daichi to only hope that he hired good enough people that wouldn’t lead middle schoolers into dangerous places. Like knives. Or freezers. Or ovens.

 _Oh my god, is Kamasaki working today?_ Daichi thought in a sudden moment of paranoia, but Akiteru snapped him back to reality.

“You really think it doesn’t matter?” Akiteru asked. “Honestly, I think Saeko would do anything even if she’s in a dress. Do you think your brother could lend me—”

“No.” Daichi took a breath and stood up from him place behind the counter, looking his friend right in the eye. “Listen, I don’t know if everything Tanaka says about his sister is completely overblown, but Asahi says stuff and I trust him well enough.”

Akiteru nodded.

“Just go for it.” Daichi told him. “Don’t worry. I think she’ll love that. Saeko doesn’t go crazy over guys a lot. Really, I’m pretty sure her brother is pretty weirded out by how you make her act. She’s an honest woman.  If she didn’t want to go out with you, I’m pretty sure you would be feeling it all over by now.”

Akiteru flushed, but signaled Daichi to keep going anyways. Daichi relaxed, finally able to pull off that reassuring smile.

He leaned forward. “And, I think, you’re forgetting one thing.”

“Yeah?”

“She really, really loves your music.”

That got Akiteru’s attention. The statement basked over him with steady realization. His worry slipped off his face, allowing a shaky grin to take over. It calmed Daichi’s own worried tenfold, too.

“You’ve got this, alright? You’d have to screw up pretty badly to make her think twice,” Daichi assured him. He gave Akiteru one last clap on the shoulder and a wink. “Give her hell.”

“Thanks,” Akiteru said, patting Daichi’s hand off of his shoulder. After a moment, he reached out to meet Daichi in a grateful fist bump. “You must have some amazing pep-talking skills because I still have no idea why I’m following the advice of the man with the worst relationship record in the book.”

Daichi’s eyes narrowed. “I can ban you from this restaurant, you know—”

“Hey, what’s up with this lovefest?” Like the call of the devil, the woman of the hour slid up between him and Akiteru in one smooth motion, all catlike movements and vicious charm. Her blonde hair was pinned to show off her nefarious features and long nails came in a long clatter across the countertop, sending a chill up Daichi’s spine.  She grinned like the world was ready to challenge her, and she was ready to take it all home.

Akiteru took one look at her and lit up the room.

“Saeko, you came!” Akiteru said, starry-eyed and brimming with rhapsodic affection. Daichi was shocked by how excited he came to be compared to five minutes ago where he was a distorted mess. Wow.

Even Saeko seemed to be surprised by his enthusiasm, as if she were expecting something else. But whatever it was, she seemed to be happy with him now, because she grinned even wider than before and pulled Akiteru away from the counter with an overwhelming readiness. “What are you talking about, of course I did!” she told him, elbowing him a couple times in the side. “You didn’t think this lil’ lady would ditch ya’?”

“Ahaha, well, you know, in the kind of society we live in today, some people choose—”

“Oh, honey, don’t hurt yourself,” Saeko stopped him with soft pity before Akiteru could ramble any further. “Hurry up and take me out, if you’ve waited so long!”

“R-Right!” Akiteru agreed, and took her arm.

Saeko waved to Daichi as they strode out of the restaurant to who knows where, leaving Daichi to return to his own business in his little backwater restaurant.

Watching them, the remainder of Daichi’s own anxiousness for his friend began to slip away. Hopefully, it all worked out in the end. Daichi really wasn’t worried; Akiteru seemed even more capable than him at times. Now all he had to do was worry about his own problems.

Free at last. It felt…

He stopped.

Daichi lifted his head up. “Kamasaki is working today.”                            

There was a loud crash from the kitchen and the sound of Asahi’s screams, and Daichi dropped everything and bolted back there.

 

* * *

 

 Tsukishima Akiteru was an unfortunately regular fellow.

Tanaka Saeko was not.

The first time Sugawara met the eccentric flower shop owner (sister of the life partner of the best friend of his best friend’s future husband), he needed congratulating lilies for neighboring fifth grade teacher Yaku Morisuke’s welcome dinner. He ended up leaving Dragon’s Garden with seven assorted bouquets, five extra vases, a pack of calligraphy-decorated birthday cards, and a botanical _The Dragon Made Me Fall for You_ t-shirt, complete with a daisy dragon. But no lilies. Sugawara had to give Yaku what he later found out to be spider flowers.

(“They mean ‘elope with me,’” Yaku had told him, in front of the entire teaching staff.

“Oh,” Sugawara had said, ready to burn the bouquet.)

Sugawara gained a particularly specific impression of Tanaka Saeko after this event, namely one that told him that this was, in fact, a very dangerous woman. It wasn’t an impression that screamed “Come shop with us again!” but that didn’t mean he couldn’t stop going. This city had the most jarring shortage of acceptable flower shops and Sugawara happened to need a lot of flowers for a variety of things: parties, hospital visits, apology gifts, weddings, and Tobio buying thirteen last minute red roses for Suga to charm Daichi with.

 _“The lady at the flower shop,” really, Tobio, you revealed to Tanaka Saeko that I have a gigantic crush on your older brother with full knowledge of exactly who she was,_ Sugawara thought, staring into his tea and pondering his life choices as he sat trapped with Tobio’s older brother and Saeko’s boyfriend.

Well, ex-boyfriend.

“Daichi introduced us the first time we visited, Hitoka, Kei, and I. Back then it was hard to think we could even be friends,” Akiteru said solemnly, stirring the half-drunk cappuccino that was slowly growing colder. Next to Sugawara sat Daichi as self-appointed Bad Cop, though neither of them really thought bullying Akiteru would be any different than kicking a puppy. “I mean, I remember walking into the store for the first time and she threw a vase at Daichi’s girlfriend.”

The conversation paused as Sugawara turned to Daichi, looking impossibly guilty with his creased brow and reddened face. Sugawara didn’t know whether to feel frustrated, downcast, or just plain amused. Whatever look crossed his face did not seem to settle this friend at all. “Akiteru,” Daichi warned, head in his hands.

“Sorry! Sorry. It’s been a while since I last came back. I usually know the ‘Daichi and Girlfriends’ etiquette,” he said, looking directly at Sugawara as he did so. It did help lighten the mood significantly, having someone laugh at Daichi’s dating dismay with him. “The good news is that it didn’t hit anyone! But I did slice my hand on a shard. I bled all over her shop.”

“Ah, well, that’s not too bad,” Sugawara assured him. His friendship with Asahi started when they got locked inside of a school closet, and Yui met her husband over a grocery store chicken. Everyone had their own whacky stories.

“She was really… enthusiastic about taking me to the hospital. She practically threw me into her van,” Akiteru explained.

“She made me buy five bouquets to take to him. It wasn’t even an overnight stay,” Daichi said, though something else made him smirk. “Well, she felt bad about that when she found out what Akiteru did for a living.”

Akiteru lifted his hand to show off the thin scar that ran straight across his palm, looking vaguely embarrassed. Sugawara stared at it, for a moment, then two, and everything began to come together. From the slim fingers to his violinist angel of a little sister, it wouldn’t be a surprise, despite the implications.

“You’re not a pianist,” Sugawara said, aghast, but Daichi’s disapproving face was all he needed to see to prove him wrong.

“Well, not anymore.” Akiteru flexed his fingers instinctively, smiling to himself. “I quit last year.”

“Which was stupid,” Daichi commented.

“Not that Daichi has a say over how I live my life,” Akiteru said defiantly, though the look on his face suggested that if not Daichi, there was someone else who did.

“I do, because you’re my friend and I can count on one hand the number of people whose opinions you actually listen to,” Daichi said. “And you haven’t listened toany of _those_ people, which, of course, lead to…” Daichi waved to all of Akiteru, who looked mournful again. “… _this_.”

“Why did you quit?” Sugawara asked, pushing aside Daichi’s banter.

Akiteru’s face fell, but he shrugged it off. “Well, I guess it just didn’t suit me anymore, you know. I’m not as amazing as my sister, you know.”

Daichi bit his lip, as if trying to hold something back. Sugawara took it as some silent way of saying _that’s bullshit_ , which he heard loud and clear, and not just from Daichi. If Hitoka were here, Sugawara was sure she would say the same thing, though in a much kinder manner.

Despite the silence, Akiteru seemed to get the message clearly enough. “She didn’t think so either, Saeko,” he said. “She called me as soon as she heard and I… I couldn’t really say anything to defend myself.” He laughed, something bitter and regretful, but still tried to smile it off. “Well, you can imagine what she told me next. It was the hardest I’ve ever felt about quitting, but I still couldn’t bring myself to go back into that world.”

He shook his head, shameful.

“I’d look at the scar on my hand and think, god, how stupid could I have been? But then I’d return to the piano and remember. And I thought I could keep going, try and help Hitoka and her career, but I’d always want to go back. To the keys, and to her. I did the best I could, but…” He looked up, took a look at Daichi and Sugawara, and shrugged. “Here I am.”

“Here you are,” Daichi echoed, though his tone lacked its former kick. He let out a deep sigh, and the conversation drifted off amongst the chatter of the crowd.

As the air turned thoughtful, Sugawara took a good look at the man in front of him. He wanted to help; he couldn’t just leave Akiteru to cope like this, no matter how shaky his reasoning was. Though maybe that was part of it, that Sugawara felt a little drawn to the situation than he had initially expected. Not just because Daichi was so worried about him, but because Akiteru was so lost in the first place.

Sugawara struggled with his thoughts, and let out a sigh. He couldn’t even make a solid thought like this. But he knew they could work through this; all he needed was some time to think.

 

* * *

 

“See you around, Suga.”

“Huh, what?” Sugawara looked up from his seventh (?) cup of tea to see Asahi waving him goodbye as exited the door, another hard day’s work done. He barely even registered the event before, next, Daichi was turning the restaurant sign to a firm _Closed_ , ending the work day. It was then that Sugawara noticed that the sun had already gone down and the restaurant had emptied out, leaving him alone with Daichi once more. Tobio would have been proud.

“I can’t believe you stayed,” Daichi said, approaching the little place at the bar Sugawara had moved to after Akiteru left. Sugawara withdrew defensively. “Asahi was worried about you, you know. It was if you went catatonic.”

“Asahi has his own problems to deal with,” Sugawara said, and pushed away his empty tea cup. “Sometimes I wonder if the consequences of Yui getting married were for the best. Now both of her best friends are left to take a hold of their out-of-control lives.”

“Trust me,” Daichi assured him, pulling up a seat next to him. “I know.”

 _Oh, god, I hope you really don’t,_ Sugawara thought, staring hard into his empty cup and trying not to look at Daichi in any way.

“I’d be surprised if Asahi ever had control over his life. Sometimes I feel as if he never really does,” Daichi said, quelling Sugawara’s panic even if in the slightest. “But then again, there’s you, too,” he continued, bringing it straight back.

“I-I’d like to think I’m doing relatively well compared to Asahi! Considering who his roommate is. I don’t even have a roommate. Anymore. And she was my best friend.” Sugawara groaned, accepting whatever reassuring pats on the back Daichi had to offer. _Now I’m stuck with Kuroo_ Meet Me Shirtless on the Balcony _Tetsurou_.

“If it helps you feel better, I’m not going to force you to come with me to talk to Saeko,” Daichi told him, and Sugawara felt the tension escape him immediately, though guiltily. It must have been written all over his face, because Daichi didn’t wait in following up with, “I would rather you not becoming a victim if things get wild in there.”

“Maybe I should go anyways to make sure you don’t steal her right from under Akiteru’s nose,” Sugawara chided.

“I do not seduce every available woman I meet!” Daichi protested, earning him a laugh from Sugawara. “Besides, I’m still in shock that Aki was able to get her to date him. I mean, I get why it worked; I’m just not sure _how_ it happened.”

“Well, he just told us, didn’t he?” Sugawara mentioned with a hum and the strum of his fingers on the countertop. “With music. And resilience.”

Daichi snorted. “I’m sure there’s more to it than that,” he said. “There has to be; she’s basically a part of his family now. No love story is that simple.”

“Is that so?” Sugawara asked skeptically. “And what do you know about love, Sawamura Daichi?”

“Enough to know how hard it is when you realize you really love them,” Daichi replied, growing distant for a moment. “And that it’s a hundred times harder when they leave.”

“…Yeah,” Sugawara said. _If it’s any compensation._ “It is. And the harder it is to get closer to them, the worse it is when they’re gone.”

Daichi huffed, subtly breaking the tension, which Sugawara was grateful for. “I’m sure even you don’t think Saeko is an easy one to court.”

Ah, well…” Sugawara cleared his throat. “If I were to be honest.”

“Akiteru believed she was worth it,” Daichi said with admiration in his eyes. “He’s always been the kind of guy who tries his best for the people he cares about, even if they hate him. So I don’t think he’s hopeless in this little mess he’s gotten himself in, but if he’d just stop trying to fix everything at once, maybe he’d be able to help himself for once. I’m sure Saeko’s waiting for him, whatever he thinks.”

There was a brief moment as Daichi thought, and then looked back up with a much softer expression.

“You know he really is that good. At piano. He was a composition major in college, you know. It’s nothing close to culinary arts, I know, and he wasn’t the best, but he’s given some exemplar performances. Saeko said he could make anything sound like it really meant the world. I think that was one of things she admired most about him.”

“He sure never mentioned that,” Sugawara commented, thoughtful.

“He didn’t quit piano because he was too prideful, that’s for sure,” Daichi said, though he seemed frustrated. “I don’t really know what happened, but he began to just feel… well, insignificant, I guess. Because of that, he wouldn’t perform as well as he should have been, and from there it just went downhill.”

Sugawara’s eyes widened when he felt a lot more empathetic towards that than he should have. Tense, he wrapped his fingered around his teacup. He wasn’t sure if this information made him feel more sympathetic towards Akiteru or even just angry. Whatever it was, Sugawara needed to take a breath to clear his head before tuning in once more.

Daichi was staring at him, but Sugawara waved him off. “What? Then what happened?” he asked.

It took a moment for Daichi to oblige. “…Well, there was his younger brother. Kei used to play piano too, and really admired Akiteru. Wanted to be just like him. I think the quit hit Kei even harder than it hit Saeko, honestly,” he explained. “He became pretty closed-off after that. He hasn’t really… come out of that since.”

“Is that why you asked me if I knew any kids?” Sugawara asked. He felt kind of bad of accusing Kei now, though he didn’t doubt Yamaguchi would at least be intimidated by the taller boy. But with Natsu… well, there left the eternal mystery. Sugawara huffed. “I’m still kind of insulted you were even wondering if I could help with that.”

“I had to be sure, okay?” Daichi defended. “I’ve know the Tsukishimas since forever; I wanted to make sure Aki and everyone were going to be well off when they came here.”

Sugawara stared at him for a couple moments, at his frustrated features and impatient twitches, then said, “You really care about him, don’t you?”

“Oh please—Ow!” Daichi drew back when Sugawara whacked his shoulder, glaring.

“Come on, Daichi, don’t even try the whole _new best friend_ business on me. You woke me up at five in the morning because you were so concerned about him you thought you couldn’t do it yourself.”

Daichi didn’t respond to that, but his blush was all it took for Sugawara to know he struck a chord. As Daichi’s shifted expressions, sighed, and muttered uncertainties to himself, Sugawara drank his (cold, really cold) tea patiently, until his companion lifted his head and said, “How do you know these things?”

“There’s a reason you called me,” Sugawara told him knowingly, then shuddered. “And I was really, _really_ hoping it wouldn’t be about love advice.”

It took a moment for Sugawara to notice, before Daichi was crackling, and then just laughing to himself as Sugawara glared, offended. “Fine,” Daichi muttered between wheezes. “God, I knew there was something weird about calling you first,”

“You might want to return to Akiteru real soon, Daichi,” Sugawara warned.

Daichi waved off a final fit of laughter, and tilted his head back, content. “Well, then, yes, you’re right about him. Or me, I suppose.” He took a breath. “I guess the reason Akiteru and I really connect is because of our values. We tend to thrive and suffer in accordance to the same things, because of that.”

“These values?”

“Yeah,” Daichi said. “Family.”

Sugawara stared, thoughtful. He then jumped when Daichi started laughing again, but this time, it was more toward himself than anything. “Sorry,” he said, after a moment. “It probably sounds funny to you, when you see how Tobio and I interact.”

“It makes total sense, actually,” Sugawara countered, shutting Daichi up. “Hey, I may be an only child, but I know what it looks like when siblings love each other.”

“Well, I’m sure you could tell how much Akiteru cared about his own siblings, then,” Daichi said. “He’s give anything to support them as far as they can go. The guy loves them more than he loves… well, himself.” Daichi sighed. “But he’s working on that. Saeko was helping.”

“Oh.” Well, Saeko certainly, for all he knew, seemed like the woman for that job. It certainly helped make sense of things. “It must have been hard on her then, when he quit piano.”

“I think she’s more hurt than anything. It was pretty insulting.” For a moment, he remained that way, staring at a space on the wall with his thoughts at the back of his mind. “It happens, when the person who means the world to you thinks they mean nothing.”

It took a moment for Sugawara to reply, back again in Daichi’s little mystery world. It was a strange place to be, where he felt on the border between Daichi’s history and his own. It was alien, yet familiar, with the longing in his expression.

Sugawara shook his head, finally, and bumped shoulders with Daichi, which seemed to break the dreamy look in his eyes and bring him back to reality. Maybe they’d talk about that one day, but Sugawara didn’t even know if he was ready. He could wait.

He gave his friend a warm smile, and asked, “Well, do you think she’d forgive him?”

Daichi blinked at Sugawara, drawing in the meaning of his words. He swallowed. “I… I don’t think she stopped loving him.”

“Then let’s hope he’s smart enough to know that,” Sugawara told Daichi, knocking his knuckles into his friend’s reassuringly. “Don’t worry about it; you called me for a reason, didn’t you?”

For a moment, Daichi just stared at that, expression unreadable. It was strange, because Sugawara could feel the tension thicken, so much that his heart nearly jumped out of his chest when Daichi looked up and met his eyes.

“Just because Akiteru’s a few years ahead of you doesn’t mean you’re anything less to me than he is,” Daichi told him firmly.

“Really?” Sugawara said, vision hazy, but he brushed the light feeling off as best he could. “Well, I’d sure hope so, considering the things you make me do,” he jeered instead.

At that, Daichi smiled, partially amused, and bumped his hand against Sugawara’s once more before taking his tea cup and placing it behind the counter. Daichi nodded to the door, bringing Sugawara back to where he really was: a quiet evening in dimly lit restaurant at the back of the city. “Come on, let’s go home. I have to catch up on work tomorrow. Plus, Tobio’s going to be mad that I stayed out late again today.”

 _Not if he knew you were with me,_ Sugawara thought to himself, rubbing his knuckles tenderly. He reminded himself that Daichi meant their respective homes, Sugawara’s and his own, and slid out of his seat to meet Daichi by the door.

By the time he got into his apartment and remembered there was no Yui to listen to him mourn his dignity, he flopped onto his bed and grumbled into his pillow, “Tsukishima Akiteru, you’d better appreciate this.”

 

* * *

 

Tobio met the Tsukishimas in 2009. It was the summer of the _Flightless Crow’s_ less-than-glamorous age, when Tobio was ten years old and playing volleyball with a wall as Daichi worked. The restaurant was closed for the Sunday afternoon, so he was free to smack a volleyball against the wall as many times as he pleased.

At the time, there were a million other things plaguing Tobio’s mind: the searing heat, Daichi, his unpredictable grades, stupid Daichi, his parents, the new restaurant menu, school, stupid, stupid Daichi, volleyball, and, well, everything else. He didn’t really have the thought capacity to notice the approaching footsteps too small to be Daichi’s.

It was only when a slipup, a misdirected spike that was a little too angled and a little too angry, smacked straight off the wall and seared straight to the girl behind him, who screamed as if her life was over. Tobio panicked and caught the ball in a move requiring so much flexibility and speed that it actually hurt that Daichi wasn’t there to see it. But it also threw him to the hard, concrete ground. Ow.

“A-Are you alright!?” The girl panicked. Tobio looked up from where he laid flat on the ground, still mystified. She was small, with a round face that had wide eyes like honey drops and sunny blonde hair. Tobio felt shocked by her utter existence. “Are you dead? You’re dead, aren’t you? Oh no, no, no, I killed someone, Nii-chan is going to hate me—”

She barely realized Tobio was already up and on his feet until he grabbed her shoulder, looked her dead in the eye, and, still angry and hurt by Daichi’s nonexistence, said, “Would you watch where you’re going!?”

That was the first time he had ever made Tsukishima Hitoka cry. It was completely unintentional.

The thing was, with the Tsukishimas’ in and out presence in the city, Tobio never had the chance to change that first impression. Hitoka still cried whenever she saw him, Kei still hated him with the fire of a thousand suns after learning Tobio made his sister cry, and Tobio was still bitter and friendless.

Then, with a stroke of luck and one unfortunate encounter, Shimizu Kiyoko was thrown in when they were twelve. Tobio didn’t know what kind of magic she did to calm Hitoka down, but her presence made it possible for Tobio to hang around the two with at least some sense of normalcy. He appreciated it, to an extent. It didn’t mean he made any friends; that would require stable communication.

But from then on, Tobio found that he was actually leaning more about Hitoka, though mostly secondhandedly. She loved music and didn’t play sports, her favorite food was a cheap gluten snack, she was very close with both of her brothers, and she excelled at all of her classes. She had a sweet charm that drew people near, and a dazzling smile that could light up a stage and make Tsukishima Kei love her.

In short, she shared absolutely nothing in common with Tobio. This explained a lot about their relationship.

Kiyoko, on the other hand, was a different story. Her quietness made it difficult for Tobio to learn anything about her, but she seemed to be neither comfortable nor uncomfortable around him anyways. It was good having a girl he could hang around normally and shared the love of silence with him. Not that it really amounted to anything.

Kiyoko, in all truth, was a mystery to him, but was always loyal to Hitoka, who clung to her like a lifeline. Tobio really didn’t get girls, but at least Kiyoko was straightforward about things. He appreciated that immensely, not everyone could do that well.

But there were still points in his life where he believed he would never, ever truly understand girls.

“Sawamura.”

Kindaichi let out a high pitched noise and dropped his bag before Tobio could even turn around. Even ignoring his teammate, Tobio was still surprised to see Kiyoko approaching him at the gym’s entrance in all her beauty and grace.

Kiyoko barely ever talked to him if Hitoka wasn’t around. He had the right to be shocked.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, wide-eyed.

“What the _hell_ ,” Kindaichi gasped, looking between Tobio and Kiyoko.

Kiyoko looked away from them, pointedly ignoring Kindaichi, who was twitching and choking as if he was about to have a heart attack. Tobio wanted to hit him. “If you don’t mind, I was wondering how Hitoka’s brother is doing,” she asked, fairly strained. “Out of many things.”

Oh, with Saeko. Hitoka spent a long while yesterday pouring out her worries for Akiteru to them over ice cream. About how he quit piano and now Saeko had been. How worried she was about Kei, who had looked up to Akiteru and barely played piano himself anymore, and how Hitoka barely thought her own career was worth Akiteru consuming himself into to forget about how he used to love his own music.

Tobio got the sense that Kiyoko was just as angry at Akiteru for making her friend feel that way.

“Daichi and Sugawara talked to him yesterday,” Tobio said, feeling more and more impatient with Kiyoko keeping him from practice. “I don’t know what they talked about, but it sounded as if they were getting stuff done.”

“I see,” Kiyoko said, thoughtful, and Tobio hoped it would be the end of that.

“Oh my god,” Kindaichi finally said, stone stiff. He practically jumped out of his skin when Kiyoko and Tobio both turned to look at him before yelping, “I-I’ve gotta go!” and bolting into the gym in a flash. If he didn’t think Tobio couldn’t hear him screaming “Guys, Sawamura’s talking to a _girl_!” and the disbelieving exclamations of their teammates, Kindaichi had another thing coming.

“Is he a friend of yours?” Kiyoko asked.

“No,” Tobio said firmly. “Just someone I’ve known too long.”

Kiyoko raised an eyebrow, and pursed her pink lips. She didn’t appear to be leaving anytime soon.

“Hey, don’t you have somewhere to be?” he asked, though his desire to go in a practice was severely being diminished by the loud banter of his teammates inside.

“I don’t have to be at practice until later,” Kiyoko told him coolly. “But you said… erm, Sugawara-san was with your brother yesterday? The man who came with us to Hitoka-chan’s concert yesterday.”

Tobio peered at her, suspicious. “…Why?”

“He said his name was Koushi, right? He likes your brother?”

“What? How do you know that?” Tobio demanded.

“My coach mentioned him.” Tobio’s heart dropped. “She said you two were friends.”

Her coach? She didn’t mean… Tobio’s eyes widened. Oh, god.

“And what’s it to her?” Tobio snapped, his defenses rising. “And why is she gossiping with you about it, she has no right to even _talk_ about him—”

“ _Holy crap!_ ”

“ _Fuck_ ,” Tobio hissed to himself, just as Hinata came barreling in through the gym doors, coming to a halt right next to him. Kiyoko, justifiably, was shocked.

At the sight of the younger girl, Hinata gaped, freezing up in a heated blush. It struck Tobio hard, but he merely folded his arms and took a couple steps away from the upperclassman.

“Oh… Y-You’re very pretty… I mean, _hi_! I’m Hinata,” Hinata said, bowing to Kiyoko, who accepted the greeting. He stared at her for a couple agonizing moments before swerving around and grabbing Tobio’s arm, hissing, “Sawamura, who is she?”

“That’s none of your business!” Tobio told him, yanking his arm out of Hinata’s grasp.

“Kiyoko Shimizu,” Kiyoko said politely. “Class 1-2. Good afternoon, Sempai.”

“Oh, you’re in Sawamura’s year!” Hinata said, surprised, and then gasped. “I’ve heard of you, my underclassmen talk about you! Your track times are unbelievable!”

Kiyoko seemed to be a bit surprised by the information, and blushed slightly. “Thank you,” she said, drawing her hair behind her ear nervously from the sudden spotlight. “I like to train daily.”

“That’s so admirable, wow…” Hinata jabbed Tobio in the side a couple times, being too insistent that Tobio had the patience for. “You never told me you knew such cool girls! Why are you hiding them from us?” he hissed.

“We’re not friends,” Tobio told the older boy, shoving back. Well, there was that and the fact that he didn’t really care about how pretty Kiyoko was, especially if she was going to make Hinata go stupid over her. “Don’t you have better things to do, dumbass? Go away!”

“You see how he treats his sempai,” Hinata whispered not-so-secretively to Kiyoko, who seemed far too intrigued in watching them. “He scared everyone off with that shitty attitude of his, but he’s real mushy inside.”

“…I can see that,” Kiyoko said.

“Hinata-sempai I swear I will serve one straight into _your_ head if you do not leave right n—”

“Shit! Okay, okay! Jeez, you know how fucking terrifying your serves are?” Hinata shuddered, and then jumped back and smirked to Kiyoko. “You know he files his nails before practice? I’m sure you guys have a lot to talk about!”

Tobio would have picked up and thrown Hinata back into the gym had he not run fast enough. Then again, Hinata was fast enough for everything. Tobio only found himself to be appreciative about that on the court, because if he was stupid, at least he was athletic. And loved the game. Just as much as Tobio did.

Fuck, he was flushed red now. He shouldn’t have yelled so much.

“I’m sorry for my teammate,” Tobio told Kiyoko through clenched teeth. “He’s a fucking _idiot_. I have no control over him because he’s a _dumbass_ , and he just goes and pulls shit like this because he’s such a _dumbass_.” Kiyoko peered at Tobio inquisitively, as if disbelieving, which only made him blush and grind his teeth harder. “I-I have to go practice. And commit first degree murder. Did you need anything?”

There was a beat of silence as Kiyoko stared at him, trapping him in a thick tension. This was extremely uncomfortable and Tobio wanted to leave now, now, now— “Sawamura.”

“Yes?” Tobio answered quickly.

“Can I ask what you and Sugawara-san talk about?” she asked, gaze set. “If that’s alright with you.”

Why was she asking? She barely even knew Sugawara. It must have been her coach gossiping with her again and Tobio sure as hell wasn’t going to indulge her with that information.

“We just practice together. That’s it.” Tobio looked away angrily, scratching the back of his neck. “I have to go.”

“…Alright. Thank you for your time.” Kiyoko took one more look at him, and for a moment Tobio thought she was about to change her mind and ask again, but she stayed faithful to her words and walked away. When she was gone, Tobio’s muscles loosened and he ran a hand through his hair.

“…I need fruit milk,” he grumbled, trying to think past his searing headache.

Sometimes he wondered if it was better when no one talked to him. Then again, it wasn’t that different in the first place.

 

* * *

 

“Hey, Tobio,” Sugawara called to Tobio from the other side of the park. “Are you alright? You didn’t catch Akiteru’s moody vibes, did you?”

Tobio glared at him for the accusation, and threw the ball back into Sugawara’s waiting hands. “No.”

“No, you’re not alright?” Sugawara questioned carefully.

“I mean I didn’t catch any of Akiteru-san’s stupid _vibes_!” Tobio shot back, but the look on Sugawara’s face told him that he didn’t buy a word of that. Shit. He should have just gone home, but missing the chance to practice would have bugged him for the rest of the day if he did. Begrudgingly, Tobio folded his arms. “Sorry, I’m not in the mood.”

“Oh no,” Sugawara said, despairing. “Not you too. Do we need to have a swingset talk?”

“No,” Tobio growled, but Sugawara was already beckoning him over.

“Sit down, Tobio,” he told him, taking up a swing himself. He tossed back the volleyball into Tobio’s hands as he trudged over, which Tobio was actually grateful for. Holding it was comforting, in a strange sort of way. When Tobio finally slumped down next to him, Sugawara gave a pleased hum. “I’ve got the feeling this might be about Hitoka? Since the Tsukishimas seem to be spicing up everyone’s lives.”

“…No,” Tobio said with a sigh. “Not really. Nothing’s really changed with her, honestly. She’s still scared shitless of me.”

“O-Oh,” Sugawara said. Tobio felt a little bad for him since Sugawara was always the one who wanted to try and make things right. This was when he hated things being so difficult. “D-Does that bother you?”

Tobio huffed. “It’s nothing new,” he said. “We wouldn’t get along well, really. She’s like Hinata-sempai, except nicer. At least she’s considerate when she talks to me.” Tobio grit his teeth, frustrated. “And doesn’t bug me about people she’s interested in. Or about how pretty my classmates are. Like, really? How should I know how pretty Kiyoko is? Dumbass.”

A pause. “…Is this about Hinata?” Sugawara asked.

“Fuck as if!” Tobio protested, but he knew from the burning feeling in his face about just how transparent he was being. This was so disastrous.

“You Sawamuras are so predictable,” Sugawara sighed. Tobio swore to Daichi, whatever impression he was giving Sugawara about their family. “Sometimes I wonder why people haven’t gotten that already. You’re all bark and no bite.”

Tobio had no idea how to take that, but this was the only time he actually felt free to talk about this stuff in a place that wasn’t a therapist’s office. Especially in someone who his brother really trusted, which was a rarity all its own. Swallowing his pride hurt, but it felt better going down. “I’m sick of him reminding me how stupid he gets over girls.”

Sugawara flinched at that, but Tobio blamed it on his brother and his two hundred girlfriends. “W-What happened?”

“Kiyoko showed up at practice,” Tobio explained. “Which is weird, because we never talk at school. She just wanted to know about Akiteru-san and…” _You, kind of_. “…stuff. Hinata-sempai gushed over her. And then we fought for a bit. He kept on getting up in my face about stuff, and…” He kicked at the worn ground, swaying backwards absentmindedly, and let out a breath. “I thought about how it was easier when he just ignored me.”

“It’s easier when you don’t have to deal with them,” Sugawara agreed, matching Tobio’s tempo. “It sounds as if he’s gotten a lot friendlier with you.”

Tobio made a face.

“Do you like the attention?” Sugawara asked, but Tobio saw him snicker.

“No.” He stopped, and crossed his arms. “Yes. Fuck, I don’t know. He’s been getting on my nerves ever since he learned I wasn’t Satan’s spawn.”

“Well, you never said you liked him for his adoring attitude,” Sugawara reminded him, looking smug.

He never did, really. He barely even liked Hinata when they first met. Tobio grumbled to himself, bumping his head into the chain of the swing. “No.”

“Why do you like him, then?” Sugawara asked.

Really, Tobio asked himself that every day. Ever since he figured out about this stupid crush. When the comebacks became snappier, and the gazes lingered seconds too long. When the thoughts wouldn’t stop and the picture of his smile was what he saw trying to sleep at night. It was as sappy as crap and Tobio hated every minute of it.

 _But he noticed me_. Tobio thought. _And I noticed him back._

 “…Can I not answer that?” Tobio asked.

Sugawara nodded patiently. “Take your time,” he said, in a voice that sounded far too much like Akaashi’s. “But Kiyoko, huh? She’s very pretty.”

“I guess.” Tobio shrugged. “I don’t see the appeal. What’s so good about being pretty?”

“Tell that to the guys in my college,” Sugawara grumbled, brushing light bangs out of his face. “But Hinata’s a teenage boy; he starts getting interested in pretty girls around this age. Was he at least respectful towards her?”

“Yeah.” He was, actually, now that Tobio thought about it. “More to her than me, but that’s not unusual.”

“Jealousy is a nasty emotion…”

“I don’t think you get to talk about jealousy.”

“Fair enough,” Sugawara accepted, looking blissful. “Don’t worry about it too much, though. You’re both still young. I was that age when I started noticing boys.”

Neither of them spoke for that moment, waiting for the other to follow up with something, though Sugawara was the one who seemed to get more flustered about it.

“You’ll— You’ll figure it out as well! How much you like boys. Or both, girls aren’t bad! Or none, because you never know. Or maybe you just don’t care, you’ll figure it out. You don’t have to rush it. It’s all a part of growing up. The problem I usually see in teenagers is that that they think they’ve got to figure everything out now, like it’s a requirement for being an adult. They forget that just because you’re an adult doesn’t mean you stop growing.”

Tobio looked over at Sugawara, and found the idea hard to process. He liked to think certain adults knew what they were doing, when the times were right. Sugawara, Akaashi, even his brother. Hell, especially his brother. He wondered if it was better or worse growing up while believing people like them never had it together themselves.

“I’m…” The words nearly caught in his throat as they came out, though he wasn’t sure why he was so nervous about saying it to someone who he already knew was gay. “I don’t like girls,” he finally said. “I don’t get them. And… I don’t really care how people look, honestly. It doesn’t bug me that Hinata’s a guy; I didn’t even want to like him in the first place. It just that that… Stuff. Happens.”

“Stuff,” Sugawara echoed.

“I’m not saying it again,” Tobio hissed.

“I wouldn’t expect any less,” Sugawara said.

“It still sucks when they don’t like you back,” Tobio grumbled, turning his volleyball in both hands.

“This is true.” They both took a moment of self-pity. It felt better to do that with company, as opposed to other situations. “But that doesn’t meant it isn’t worth spending time with them. Yui married the man she hated most in college. Akiteru fell for someone nobody believed he could win over. Akaashi found Bokuto. Somehow. I like…” Sugawara clenched the swingset chain. “…your brother…”

Tobio sat up, attentive.

“And all of these relationships are different and unique in their own way and you never know what will happen!” Sugawara finished quickly, before Tobio could throw in another word.

“But you’re still hesitant about my brother,” Tobio said.

“Your brother is a very special person, I’m sure you know that, Tobio,” Sugawara told him. “And he has troubles of his own. You just worry about your own guy. Maybe he’s not as complicated as you think he is. I mean, you’re not.”

Sugawara stopped his swinging to shoot Tobio a smirk, and then stood up and stretched. Tobio found this to signal the end of that conversation, and leaned over his volleyball, pensive. “Whatever you say.”

“Good.” The older man turned to Tobio, this time looking gravely serious. “So, I won’t be here tomorrow because I have to go throw one of Yaku’s student’s and your crush’s sister at Akiteru’s younger brother.”

Tobio flinched. “What?”

“But I’ll make it work. That’s my job. I work with kids, you know,” Sugawara said proudly, hands on his hips. “So you don’t have to wait up for me. But before I leave, do you think you can tell me anything you know about Akiteru and Saeko? Because I’m having the worst relationship crisis and adult relationships are not something I trust myself in handling right now.”

Tobio didn’t know how to respond to that.

 

* * *

 

Practice the next day was an invigorating affair. Volleyball was one of the only things in Tobio’s life that really helped him let his feelings out, whether it was frustration, confusion, nervousness, or even just plain anger.

He watched as his serve shot straight past Kindaichi’s face and strike the opposite end of the court with a terrifying _crack_. Kindaichi took one look at the ball behind him before staring in shock at Tobio. His eye twitched, as if unable to comprehend if Tobio really existed or was just a figment of his neverending nightmare.

“Fuck, first year, stop trying to kill everyone,” Kyoutani hissed at him, as nearby upperclassman. “We’re running out of manpower.”

“It would have been a good serve,” Tobio said, hands twitching for another. He could hear Captain Futakuchi groan from the other end of the gymnasium. “I need to practice control more and he keeps dodging the ball.”

“What Kyotani means!” Hinata, the complete ass, jumped in between him and his aggressive upperclassman as Yahaba came in and lead Kyotani away. “Is that you’ve gotta go easy during practice. I mean, cool serve, and whatever, but calm the hell down.”

“I am calm!” Tobio snapped, making Hinata jump back, startled. Tobio quickly bit his tongue, and withdrew, only to see Hinata peering over at him again.

“Yeah, sorry,” Hinata said, making one of his crazed, knowing faces. “That sounds like bullshit. Yeah, if you’re gonna try and kill Kindaichi again I’m gonna ask Futakuchi-sempai to make you sit out.”

And he said it so casually too, not urgently like Tobio was going to eat his face. Seriously.

Tobio wanted to retort, very badly. It was his first instinct, but the sheer overwhelming sense of awkwardness drew over him. From Hinata’s change in attitude towards him, to Sugawara’s words still spinning around his head, to Akaashi’s words echoing from appointments ago, Tobio found enough ground to shut him up just this once in front of Hinata, who was already looking confused at Tobio’s lack of immediate response.

“Fine,” Tobio said. “But he has to learn how to take these hits or Coach Oikawa’s gonna kill him anyways.”

“…” Hinata looked him over, behind him, and then behind himself, before looking back at Tobio’s face. “…Hey, are you okay?”

“Of course I am!” Tobio shot back, but another voice interrupted them before Hinata could even follow up on that. One bringing a haunting sense of déjà vu.

“Hey, Sawamura!” Kunimi called from the gymnasium entrance. His normally cool features were crossed with a rare expression of disturbance. “There’s a girl here that wants you.”

Hinata choked as Tobio’s heart dropped to his feet. Kindaichi, who was just glaring murder at him two seconds ago, let out a high shriek in yesterday’s memory. Quickly, without giving his upperclassman a second glance, Tobio dashed over to the entrance, grabbing his jacket and pushing past Kunimi.

Once he saw her, Tobio lead Kiyoko as far away from the gymnasium entrance as he could and planted her in a more private corner outside of the gym, far, far away from any nosy teammates. He looked up to her surprised expression, panicked, and said, “What are you doing here _again_?”

Kiyoko narrowed her eyes at him. “If you don’t want me around then I can leave.”

“No!” Tobio grabbed her sleeve, and then immediately dropped it, face burning. “I mean. Ugh, if you have something to say… Do you know how those guys react whenever you come over here?”

Kiyoko peeked over Tobio’s shoulder to the gym entrance again, but Tobio turned her away again. Kiyoko grew more serious. “If you’re going to speak to me like this then I can tell when I’m unwanted, Sawamura.”

“It’s not that—” Tobio sighed and buried his face into his hands. _Calm down, Sawamura, talk slowly_. “I… What do you need, anyway?”

At the open chance, Kiyoko’s hard expression fell into something softer. “I wanted to talk,” she said. “If you had the time, at least.”

“Is this about Tsukishima again?” Tobio asked, though he left it open to which one.

“No,” Kiyoko said, and then her gaze dropped. “A little. I do have to have a word with you, Sawamura. Somewhere…” She glanced over to the gym. “…more private, I guess.”

That was… rare. Kiyoko barely even spoke to him in the halls, he had a right to be confused. But… “…fine. I can do that.” He didn’t have anything else to do after practice, anyway, not today. He almost cursed Sugawara for not giving him an excuse not to go. He took a deep breath, to cool his nerves. “I’ll walk you home; we can talk then.”

“Thank you,” Kiyoko said with a nod. Curiously, she looked back to the gym entrance again, where Tobio saw Hinata and Kindaichi peeking over. For the love of— “I’ll let you return to practice, then.”

“Wait, what did you want—” But she was already on her way. By the time Tobio reached the gym again, he was already too annoyed with his teammates to look at them directly.

“How,” Kindaichi said, standing a meter away. He waved his arms to Tobio’s everything. “How _you_?”

“Shut up,” Tobio growled.

“That was Shimizu-san, wasn’t it?” Hinata gaped, looking oddly… proud, or as proud as he could look with that shit-eating grin of his. “What did you talk about? You looked as if you were having trouble. Huh? Do you need any advice from your sempai?”

Tobio huffed. “If I needed advice about that you would be the last person I would ask.”

“Hey, I give perfectly good love advice!” Hinata protested, and bounced over to Kindaichi. “Don’t I, Kindaichi? Come on, put some faith in me.” He urged, just at the time his best friend passed by to save their cornered underclassman.

“That would be easier to believe if you’ve ever even dated anyone, Hinata,” Yahaba scoffed, and avoided Hinata’s swing.

“I have to practice,” Tobio said, and brushed past the small crowd to where the he could set up a bottle and practice his serves again, this time without anyone to interfere.

He heard Hinata groan as he walked by, and turned just in time to see him flatten his hair and mumble, “My name is Sawamura Tobio and I have a stick up my ass, nyeh,” before Yahaba smacked him.

Tobio served imagining the bottle to be Hinata’s face.

“Don’t murder the equipment, too, dumbass,” Kyoutani hissed as he walked by.

 

* * *

 

This was weird.

Honestly, Tobio wasn’t sure what he was expecting when he offered to walk a girl home. It seemed like the most logical option, but after walking for ten minutes of complete silence with the slowly thickening tension, nothing but the evening streetlights and steady footsteps filling the air, it started to feel fairly suffocating.

He looked over at Kiyoko, who seemed as naturally quiet as she always was and for once, he really wished Hitoka was here. Looking back on it, Kiyoko always talked a lot more with her around, despite her colder exterior around others. It was the only reason Tobio could remember how it looked when she smiled.

He’d known her for so long, too, and this was the first time she actually wanted to talk to him. That actually made him feel… pretty good.

“I’m _sorry_ ,” Tobio stammered, catching Kiyoko’s attention and breaking the everlasting silence. He immediately regretted it, but pushed forward. “For yelling at you. I wasn’t in…” He bit his lip. “…I haven’t been in the mood lately.”

Kiyoko gave him a considerate look, and wrapped her fingers around her bag strap. “That’s fine, I’m sorry for being so sudden.” She paused. “I don’t do very well around crowds.”

Oh, right. That was something Tobio seemed to forget a lot, even since middle school. He should have remembered that, though it did feel sort of embarrassing as someone with a similar problem. “S’fine. They’re not bad. They’re just really… loud.”

“They seem like fun,” Kiyoko said thoughtfully, with a hint of a smile. It took Tobio by surprise. “Hinata-sempai seems very friendly.”

That made him a little uncomfortable hearing. “Well… okay, sure, but he has too much energy, and he loves sticking his nose in where it doesn’t belong. He’s like a kid.”

“It sure seems that way,” Kiyoko agreed. “Hitoka-chan can be the same way when she gets passionate about something. You should listen to her talk about music.”

“Hitoka’s cool,” Tobio said, unsure about how to follow up. He’d only listen to her talk about stuff with Kiyoko but he didn’t really pay attention to stuff like that. “She’s better than Hinata-sempai.”

“I think it’s nice that you two can act so naturally around each other.” Tobio frowned at that, but Kiyoko just kept on going. “He doesn’t mind poking fun at you. And you mostly just loom and glare over everyone else.”

“It’s nothing special,” Tobio admitted. “He’s just enthusiastic about everything. We’re just lucky he shows that on the court, or else then it would be useless.”

“I’m kind of jealous,” Kiyoko said, catching Tobio off-guard. “Of people like him and Hitoka-chan. They can express themselves so easily. I’ve always been waiting to get that expressiveness when I get older, but I think as long as I can talk to Hitoka-chan, I feel important enough.” She made a content face, as if caught in a blissful memory. “She’s the kind of person who makes you feel like you’re worth something.”

“…Really.” Tobio folded his arms. “That’s nice.” She did seem to have that sort of charm.

“It really helps with my confidence. I mean, I don’t like talking to boys,” Kiyoko said, expression falling flat. “Not because I’m nervous or anything, but it’s just that talking to girls is easier. Boys can get overexcited, sometimes; I find it best to just keep to myself.” She paused, twining her fingers together. “But I want to change something. It’s not fair if I just go to her all the time, especially if she’s not always here. I’ve been thinking about becoming a manager.”

Tobio perked up at that. “Like… Like for the volleyball team? Really!?”

Kiyoko nodded. “I’ve been thinking about that one the most. Mostly because you’re there.”

Tobio shut up. That made… no sense. “… _Why_? I mean, I’m sure Hinata-sempai and everyone would like you, but…” Yeah.

“I wanted to choose the place I would be most comfortable at. And…” Kiyoko looked up at him. “You’re very honest, Sawamura-san. You’re very aggressive, but that’s because you’re nervous. People don’t like you because they feel threatened by you. And I also feel as if you would… know most of the things I feel. It’s better when someone’s there with me.”

Tobio flinched at that. “Why do you think that—”

“Because you’re not very different from me,” Kiyoko confessed. “But at least you let people know what you’re thinking. I think that I can trust that. And it’s easier to go to you if I want to talk, because you’ll just tell me the truth. You don’t care how weird it is.” She paused. “Or at least, you don’t really pay attention to things like that.”

Tobio wasn’t sure whether to take that as a compliment or an insult, so he just furrowed his brows and decided to ignore it. He didn’t even think everything Kiyoko was saying about him was true. “I’m not very good company.”

“I want to try,” Kiyoko told him, fists clenched. “And say that it gets lonely, when it feels like you’re the only one. So when noticed, I got really excited, and I’m sorry if I’m wrong, but…”

She paused, and Tobio noticed that she had been uncharacteristically nervous the entire conversation. No wonder he was getting such strange vibes from her. This was really, really weird.

“What?” he urged, impatient.

Kiyoko met his gaze. “…I wanted to say that it’s okay if you like boys.”

Neither of them spoke.

“…”

“…Wha…” Tobio’s breath hitched. “What?”

“I’ve noticed,” Kiyoko began again, just as her words began to catch up with Tobio, “some things. After my coach said stuff when I mentioned you and Sugawara-san. And I just began to wonder—”

“What the hell is she saying about me!? Or him!” Tobio snapped, stepping up to Kiyoko angrily. “She has no right! Like she would tell you and then—”

He stopped suddenly, when a thought drew over him. Tentatively, he looked down at a shocked Kiyoko, and slowly stepped back.

“D-Did she tell Daichi?” Tobio asked. God, it was hard to breathe like this. “I don’t care how much she’s helped you, but you can go back and tell her to keep her mouth shut about me.”

“N-No, that’s not—!” Kiyoko stepped back over to Tobio. “She didn’t tell me, I just figured on my own that maybe… maybe you’re more like me than I thought.”

Tobio stared at her, unable to respond. His muscles were locked and every sense was peaked in warning. “…What does that mean?”

“I… I don’t like boys,” Kiyoko said slowly. “Intimately. Or romantically. But sometimes I look at Hitoka-chan and think…” She breathed. “…about wanting more.”

And then she blushed. Faintly, but Tobio noticed her cheeks go pink and her lips purse. But just saying it out loud seemed to make her whole body relax, and the words flow out more smoothly.

“I miss her when she’s gone, and I get really happy when she’s here. Whenever she’s with me, it’s as if she treats me as her world. She comes to as many of my competitions as she can, and always finds the smallest things about me to be in awe of.”

This time, Kiyoko really smiled. She didn’t look at Tobio, but somewhere far away in her memory. Tobio felt himself breathe again.

“Do you think Hinata-sempai makes you feel that way?” Kiyoko asked, and all of that breath immediately escaped him. “Because I came over yesterday and saw you two and I think I was just making a guess, but—”

“No. Absolutely not. He’s an idiot.” Tobio glared, and Kiyoko’s eyes widened, embarrassed. He immediately felt bad, though. He didn’t want to… “It’s weird, okay? I… liked him before he even wanted to talk to me.”

Kiyoko stood there, unmoving.

“You’re right, okay!” Tobio said, before he could lose the courage to say it at all. “I don’t care whether you’re gay or whatever, anyways. It’s… not something to get too caught up in. Is what I hear, anyways. But what I do care about is…” He took a breath, stood firm, and looked Kiyoko straight in the eye. “Do you… really want to be team manager?”

Kiyoko blinked. Once. Twice. Before her eyes lit up.

And then he realized that he was standing in front of someone who he felt could actually get him, Tobio felt really, really good.

“That’s… That’s right,” Kiyoko said, still bright red but determined. “I was wondering if it was okay, since it’s so late, but I just want to know—”

“We really need one!” Tobio told her excitedly. “Our old one is graduating and we couldn’t find any first years that were up for it, so it’s really cool that you could come. Plus, you’re an athlete, so…” Tobio stopped. “Hey, do you want to practice sometime?”

“You mean volleyball?” Kiyoko asked, though she looked ready for anything.

“Yeah! So you can know how it all works and stuff.” This was fun. And she was listening to every word. Oh, god, this was really fun. “Sugawara-san helps me practice too but you’re fast, right? And flexible, too. You’d be really good as a libero!”

“I… I actually want to work on my strength training! Coach told me that and—” Kiyoko interrupted, and immediately shut her mouth at the suddenness.

When Tobio waited for her to keep talking, she loosened, and then, laughed. It was sudden, and Tobio had absolutely no idea what was so funny about wanting to train.

“What?” he asked.

“Nothing, nothing,” she said, and smiled. And it was at Tobio, and not Hitoka, or anyone else. “I’m just really glad I can talk to a friend about… stuff like this.”

“…I know some stuff about improving upper body strength,” Tobio told her. How could he do this, again? “If… If you want to get together sometime. You’re fast. I mean, I never wanted to do morning jogs with anyone, but if you wanted to run together…”

“Yes!” And then she clammed up. “I mean. Yes, thank you, Sawamura,” she told him, with a light bow.

“You can call me Tobio, you know,” he said. “It’d be weird around my brother. I don’t want to be confused with him.”

“A… Alright,” she said, and a wobbly smile crossed her features, making her look younger and brighter than he’s ever seen her. “Thank you, Tobio.”

A pause.

“I think my mother wants me home now,” Kiyoko said quickly, but she was smiling and hadn’t stopped. “My house isn’t too far from here. I’ll see you at school tomorrow.”

“I’ll walk you the rest of the way,” Tobio told her. “It makes sense, I mean. It would be kind of half-assed to just walk you part of the way and then ditch.”

Kiyoko turned thoughtful, but grateful. “I suppose you’re right.”

They talked the rest of the way, unlike how they started. Mostly about sports, but sometimes about his brother and her coach, and how mad Kiyoko was at Akiteru. And a little about Hinata, and Hitoka, and themselves, and other things, but then it just seemed as if the time ran out too fast, and Kiyoko waved him goodbye and disappeared into her apartment building.

Tobio walked home then, wondering if Daichi was still working again and how he was doing with Akiteru in town, but he couldn’t shake off just how _different_ that had felt. It wasn’t even like talking with Sugawara, but he knew he would see Kiyoko again at school, and just be able to talk to her. As an equal.

This was pretty cool.

For once, Tobio went to bed eager for the next day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First year Kiyoko is so small and young and must be cared for thoughtfully compared to third year Kiyoko sweet lord almighty. I'm really craving to get to the KiyoTobi friendship because it's so good??
> 
> But in other news, 1000+ reviews?? Oh my god??? Wow like I'm really going to get on that "get better at replying to comments" resolution of mine because you guys deserve so much more than this and I don't want y'all to underestimate how much those mean to me like each one makes me so happy. Though if you want an easy fix then just drop by [my writing blog](http://metisink.tumblr.com/) to send a few words or questions! You guys are really great!
> 
> Hopefully Chapter 10 shouldn't take as long since it's already in process.


	10. that's how you know

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which very few people actually know how relationships work and it's not our heroes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i would like to thank the fandom for their wonderful love and support that has gotten me to wRITE YALL HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH IT MEANS
> 
> this was a terrible summer and none of you deserved this delay but now i am well and if you all please, chapter 10
> 
> special thanks for ksusha! who also has given this small child a russian translation! HOW BADASS IS THAT?? And also one nico dear for writing figuratively next to me as i wrote this on our epic writeaweek. WHAT A BAE.

A list of things Sugawara learned about Tsukishima Akiteru and his problems in no particular order, with assistance from Sawamura Tobio:

  1. His parents worked overseas, leaving him to take care of his wonderful siblings, much like another handsome young man they all knew and loved (not Sugawara’s words).
  2. But he was also pretty well off and was able to pay Daichi, a struggling culinary student, to babysit his wonderful siblings when he, a very competent pianist, was busy with recitals.
  3. This, in some way that made absolute sense to Sugawara but absolutely none to Tobio, conjured a strong bond between the two older brothers, enough for Akiteru leave Tokyo to visit Daichi in Miyagi soon after he dropped out.
  4. The first thing Akiteru did when he came to Miyagi was buy flowers for the opening of Daichi’s restaurant. This was the first mistake.
  5. The second was striking interesting conversation with the shop’s owner.
  6. Tobio, in his words, couldn’t count the number of mistakes Akiteru made after that, but they must have been sin-terrible because against all advice from him (and Daichi, and Saeko’s brother, and Asahi), Akiteru and Saeko were dating not too long after this. When Sugawara asked for more details, Tobio had claimed to have been too young to understand it.
  7. Akiteru was a wing spiker in high school.



It was this information that made Sugawara look over and contemplate on asking an overgrown fifth grader for more advice on adult relations.

“Sugawara-sensei.” There was a tug at his sweater, where Yamaguchi Tadashi stared up at Sugawara with worried eyes. “Is this okay? I mean, yesterday was okay, but I’m not sure I’m very…”

Sugawara put on his best diplomatic smile and ruffled Yamaguchi’s hair. “You’ll do great. You were awesome before! Some people just need a little push in the right direction, right? Trust me, this is something that will help you a ton in middle-high.”

Yamaguchi side-eyed Kei. “…Getting beat up?”

“ _Approaching people_ ,” Sugawara insisted. He waved over at Kei at the park bench, whose eyes were glued to his phone. He seemed nonchalant. Well, it was better than aggressive.

“Then who’s that guy?” Natsu said rather loudly while pointing at yet another phone offender not a few feet away from the park bench, the man with the really wealthy shirt and really bad hair.

“…That’s Kuroo.” _He’s here to make sure you guys don’t get hit by a bus or worse_. “He’s going to be your chaperone for today.”

“Why can’t you be here?” Natsu groveled, giving her best pout and glare combination. “You were here yesterday! I wanna eat ramen again!”

“Because he has a life to get to.” Kuroo walked over and placed a hand on Sugawara’s shoulder proudly, stuffing his phone away. “And if you look at the man before you, you’ll see a young bachelor devoid of meaningful social interaction, depending on the unwanted meddling of precious neighbors and friends while stuck with only two purposes in life: weddings and children. I am here under direct orders from a recent bride to save him from the second one so he can do more important things, like the former one. Namely his own.”

“Oooh,” Yamaguchi and Natsu chimed.

“So Kuroo volunteered to watch over you three in my place!” Sugawara beamed. Kuroo’s grin turned strained. “He’s going to take you guys wherever you want today. If he does anything illegal, you call me or Yui-san, okay?”

“Suga, I can’t do anything illegal you know that,” Kuroo hissed at him.

“You’re not getting paid for this, I don’t know what you’ll do,” Sugawara said back in a low tone, and then before Kuroo could reply, he rounded up the kids into a single group (god, Kei was towering over them, no wonder Yamaguchi was nervous) and stuffed his and Yui’s numbers into Kei’s jacket pocket. At the sudden addition of a new member, Natsu took a fighting stance while Yamaguchi stared up at Kei’s pained expression with something between curiosity and awe.

“Hey, kids,” Kuroo said, looking as if he was trying to smile through a mouthful of nails.

Kei grimaced at him.

Sugawara’s phone chimed with a new message. “Oh, that’s my cue.” He took one last look at the group and after a moment’s hesitation, ruffled Yamaguchi’s and Natsu’s hair playfully, just stopping short of Kei when he gave him the most horrified expression. It might have broken Sugawara’s heart, just a little. “…I’ll be off then.”

“Have fun,” Kuroo said, waving him away, obviously deciding Sugawara’s personal life was more important than his ability to herd children. He turned to them. “Say goodbye, kids.”

“Farewell, Great Professor!” Natsu cheered at the same time Yamaguchi said, “Good luck, Sugawara-sensei!” Kei’s mouth tightened slightly as he buried his nose in his phone again. Sugawara waved them goodbye and then finally tore himself away from the scene, off on a new mission.

When he was gone, Kuroo looked over and saw three sets of eyes peering up at him expectantly.

“So… what do you kids wanna do?” Kuroo asked, as their attention was immediately caught.

“I want to go to the aquarium! And the zoo! And the movies! And—”

“Let’s go the amusement park! I never get to go there! They do it all the time in manga!”

Kei clicked his tongue as if to say, “You? Try to please me?” and then looked at Kuroo’s pocket as if trying to determine how much of his wallet he could empty.

“Awesome,” Kuroo said.

 

* * *

 

“Daichi, as exciting as a mission for true love is, I’m not sure we’re making the right decisions here,” Sugawara confessed.

“Me neither,” Daichi said, much to the expense of Sugawara’s nerves.

They stood firm outside of a shop spilling flowers from every edge of its displays, from the hanging baskets to the open windows that caught with the outdoor ivy. One day Sugawara would touch those plants and they would grab him and swallow him into a void of no return. It was a little like actually walking into the store itself.

Otherwise, Dragon’s Garden was a lovely if not successful little flower shop that still kept its Christmas lights up.

“I’m going to do most of the talking,” Sugawara told him.

Daichi’s face fell. “What, why? I’m the one with the despairing friend and mountain of breakup points on his expense.” He paused. “That sounded a lot worse when I said it.”

“It’s also exactly why I’m going to be the spokesman today,” Sugawara told Daichi with a confident thumbs-up. “I’m sure Saeko will be a lot happier to talk to someone with less experience on dumping women and conspiring with her ex. For diplomacy’s sake! You know the drill.”

“This doesn’t help me,” Daichi said.

“Daichi, are we going to walk into the store or not?”

They do.

Saeko’s store, if possible, seemed to have become even more overgrown with vegetation than the last time Sugawara stepped in. Daichi seemed to notice this too, as even he was distracted from his own anxiety enough to take a moment to look around in wonder at the masses of flowers spilled across the tabletops and shelves and grounds of the store. Sugawara eyed a large bush of what looked suspiciously of the roses Tobio had given him not too long ago and swallowed back the fear of Daichi noticing and _remembering_.

“Well,” Daichi piped up, finally, “It’s not completely—”

“ _Sawamura Daichi_ , is that you I hear!?”

On cue, Saeko burst onto the scene, bringing the alarmingly strong aroma of flowers and cradling a mess of lilies, petunias, sunflowers, and number of other flowers Sugawara was sure only she could name. She dumped them onto the check-out counter over another mountain of plants and beamed up at them with her sunny smile and starry eyes.

“And Sugawara Koushi, really?” She burst into laughter. “God, I thought I’d _never_ see you ‘round here after what I heard from a little birdy, he was _so nervous_ and I just couldn’t help but wonder—”

“Hey, Saeko! How’s Akiteru?”

When Saeko’s eyes bulged, Daichi buried his face in his hands. Sugawara shut up.

“Suga,” Daichi hissed, looking considerably frightened. “She _didn’t know_.”

“I’m sorry! I panicked!” Sugawara retorted in a low voice. “I had very good reason to!”

“Akiteru? Tsukishima Akiteru?”

Saeko was looking directly at Daichi. She knew exactly who to blame.

Her entire demeanor faded, making way for her fiery glare and a stance that made her seem to stand ten feet taller than she really was. “What’s going on here?”

“We need to talk,” Daichi told her before Sugawara could say a word, trust lost.

With a powerful _slam_ , her hands crashed onto the desk and Sugawara grabbed onto Daichi’s arm, reading to bolt. But that wasn’t happening anytime soon, no.

“Both of you, grab as many flowers as you can and meet me in the _back_.”

“Well,” Sugawara said to Daichi with his loveliest smile. “A private audience. See? We’re off to a great start already!”

 

* * *

 

Luckily, Sugawara had plenty of time to reflect on his actions as Saeko instructed them on how to make the perfect bouquet and put them to work. It took them a good while of small talk and awkward silences before they ran out of floral tape and Saeko begrudgingly disappeared into the back.

“In my defense, I don’t think we would have gotten very far if we’d just let her talk,” Sugawara said.

Thankfully, Daichi considered this. “Fine, it still could have gone a lot better, though. Pass me some wire.” Sugawara did so. “Suga, have you ever been a wingman?”

“Yes,” Sugawara replied, though not proudly.

“Then you know how painful it is,” Daichi said, tight-lipped. “When you know something can happen, but they’re clearly avoiding the most obvious action. And you want to consider their feelings, but it’s just so difficult to understand how they could act so stupid around someone like… like…”

“I’m sure they know exactly what you mean, too,” Sugawara reassured him.

“I’m not sure why they would understand when all they can…” Daichi trailed off, stopping to glare at Sugawara’s innocent smile. “You’re a lot meaner than you let people think.”

“It’s the pretty face,” Sugawara told him. He gave Daichi a friendly pat on the shoulder and another bouquet of flowers. “Besides, all that aside, I’m sure you have some reason to be trying to get them back together. They couldn’t have been that bad.”

“That’s… yeah.” Daichi distracted himself by wiring the bouquet together diligently. “They really made each other happy. I was the one who introduced them, so I just feel partially responsible for how it turned out.”

Sugawara felt a little guilty himself; his last efforts in wingman-ing resulted in his best friend getting married. Daichi’s lead to a break up. His relationship track record wasn’t very helpful either. Though before he could think of something comforting to say, Saeko reappeared with a good armful of tape.

“Having fun?” Saeko waggled her eyes at Sugawara, who bit the inside of his cheek and kept his hands on the flowers. And her expression fell. “Alright, as helpful as it is, I know you guys aren’t here to commit yourselves to new lives as daisy slaves, so talk.”

Sugawara and Daichi looked at each other with equal looks of pleading. Daichi, the responsible one, took matters into his hands. “Akiteru’s in town.”

Despite all previous knowledge and experience Sugawara knew, Saeko just took a long look at the two of them and then fell back into her seat and sighed. “Aaagh, knew it. Just couldn’t stay away, could he?” She pulled back a long strip of tape with a loud _rip_ , and snatched up a bouquet.

“Hitoka had a concert around here, we went to go see it.” Daichi motion between himself and Sugawara.

“Along with Tobio and Kiyoko,” Sugawara added quickly.

“Kiyoko-chan!” Saeko piped up. “How is she? Did she stop seeing that she-witch? I always thought she would do better tending to the chrysanthemums and modeling for our advertisements—”

“Saeko,” Daichi interrupted her.

“Ugh, fine, so he’s back.” Saeko went back to aggressively taping flowers together, and doing an alarmingly good job at it, too. “ _Hitoka-chan’s_ concert, right?”

Daichi sighed, and Saeko turned right to Sugawara.

“You know what he did? He waltzes into this store and charms the ruffles off me until he can seduce me with his _glorious_ music and then after a little pressure he _quits!_ Completely drops the job he loved and goes off to be his little sister’s manager. Do you expect me to respect that?” After a beat, Saeko gathered up the scattered bouquets and aligned them onto the next table until they were a mass of roses and white daisies that Sugawara thought looked like a literal bloody mess on the counter. “So no! I won’t talk to him until he learns how to be a man and respect himself first!”

Sugawara shook off the remaining shock and wracked his head for an answer to all of that. “That’s… well…” He bit his tongue. And took a breath. And tightened his lips. And then turned to Daichi. “What was that?”

“That…” Daichi trailed off. He stared nervously at Sugawara. “…made a lot of sense.”

“That was it,” Sugawara said, and turned back to Saeko. “You couldn’t have put up with that. You need someone who can support you when you’re down on your luck, who has the nerve to buy you whatever you need at three in the morning and has the pride to keep your family on their feet.”

“That’s it! You get it, Suga!” Saeko laughed at the same time Daichi elbowed him hard in the side. Ouch.

Daichi shook his head. “Saeko, you dated Akiteru for years, I know you know him better than this,” he told her with an understanding tone, and it was enough to grab her attention. “The pressure was a bigger that, and he wasn’t coping well with it, we don’t usually get past that very easily.”

“We, huh?” Saeko raised an eyebrow, though her tone didn’t have as much bite to it.

“You know what I mean.” Daichi leaned back and looked the shop owner dead in the eye. “He’s doing his best to keep moving forward. I think right now what he needs is for you by his side.”

“Hm,” Saeko muttered and played with the rose petals. She took up a bouquet and held it before her, her fingers brushing over the petals. Sugawara relaxed, his mind finally settling down with the situation.

“You can help him out with that, you know,” Sugawara promised. “Moving on.”

“Will I? That boy needs to learn how to fight before he can stand for himself,” Saeko said, holding the flowers close to her chest. She smiled to them over her shoulder, and it was the most genuine expression Sugawara has seen on her all day. “When he figures out how simple it is to win this girl’s heart, he’s welcome to come and try.”

Sugawara looked over at Daichi, whose expression finally lit up with hope. He nudged Daichi and smirked. It was worth it.

Then, the front door chimed, and voices followed. “Oh!” Saeko cheered, dropping all premise of sensitivity and skipping out back into the shop. “Is that who I think it is? Ryuu~ Over in the back! We’re making bouquets!”

“Hey, Suga, Daichi!” The second Tanaka sibling poked his head into the back room, trailed closely by Nishinoya himself.

“You guys on another date?” Noya jeered with his knowing grin.

Saeko’s eyes shone. Daichi dropped his bouquet just as Sugawara stood up so fast his chair fell back. The only apology they got was Tanaka sputtering while Nishinoya looked really confused and said, “Uh, this isn’t going to get Asahi’s salary cut again, is it?”

 

* * *

 

  
The moment Daichi and Sugawara escaped the flower shop, they tore off their newly matching _The Dragon Found Me Love!_ t-shirts from over their clothes and hid them amongst the crowd of flowers neither of them had been planning to buy. They tossed them all onto a park bench and thought about their misdeeds.

“We’ve been approaching this all wrong,” Daichi said, staring with disappointment down at his new garden.

“You’re right,” Sugawara said, and grabbed his shoulder. “It’s for plan B.”

Daichi gave Sugawara a mournful look, and then they sat down on the bench together as Daichi pulled out his phone.

 

* * *

 

Getting a hold of Akiteru was no problem. The Tsukishimas, after the concert, where then technically on vacation with an embarrassingly large amount of free time on their hands. Hitoka was not-so-theoretically spending this time with Kiyoko, Kei with his new group of forced acquaintances, and Akiteru was, well, supposed to be with either Daichi or Saeko. In theory.

He did seem confused when Daichi, the only one of the two who would talk to him, finally caught a hold of him and dragged him off somewhere other than his hotel.

“Daichi, I’m pretty sure this isn’t going to help me.”

“Sit down,” Daichi told him, and sat Akiteru down into the leather couch as he took his place next to him. Sugawara planted himself on Akiteru’s other side, trapping him. Akiteru went tense. And then ghostly.

“…Daichi, what did she tell you that you would take me to see a therapist?”

“I would like to know the same thing,” Akaashi said from his desk chair, unamused. Sugawara gave him his most charming smile. “I’m not on call, Daichi. I have clients. When you told me you needed a favor, I thought it was an emergency. You never ask me for favors.”

“This won’t take long, we promise,” Sugawara assured him while Akaashi just peered at him skeptically. “It’s just that we don’t know a lot of people in such blatantly successful relationships.”

Akaashi, if possible, looked even less impressed than before.

“We can definitely leave,” Akiteru told him, working to get up. “You know! If you’re busy."

Sugawara and Daichi pulled him back down.

“Do you want to fix your life?” Daichi asked him, and Akiteru threw his hands into a panicked motion that looked vaguely like a cross between a dying man and pure distress. “That’s what I thought.”

Akaashi sighed and pressed his forehead on the edge of his clipboard. “This is definitely something you three should be doing on your own time—”

And then the door slammed open. “HEY GUYS, I got your call, Daichi, you guys just sit tight and we’ll get right down to business! Right Keiji? Right?”

Akiteru, much like Sugawara, went stone stiff and could only stare as Bokuto Koutarou rolled in another desk chair next to Akaashi’s, blocking the exit. Akaashi himself looked completely trapped, and threw his best accusatory glare at Daichi, who stared at a small spot on the ceiling. Still, he stopped talking. The tiny counseling room probably felt like a small prison to its unhappy occupants.

“So, dude, I hear you’re screwed,” Bokuto said. “What was your name again?”

“Akiteru,” said Akiteru.

“It’s okay, Akiteru, we’re here for you, bro! So? What’s going on?”

Just as Daichi opened his mouth, Akaashi stopped him with a single movement. “Akiteru, if you will,” he said, looking at the lone Tsukishima. “Why don’t you tell us what’s wrong? Step by step.”

Akiteru sat shocked for a moment, but after a moment, began to explain. Sugawara looked over Akiteru’s shoulders and mouthed to Daichi, “This was a good idea.” Daichi just smirked back proudly.

What followed was, in a nutshell, plan B. Sugawara learned some new things about Akiteru, Saeko, and _Daichi_ , following his epic romance. Well, past romance. Which included Daichi’s past romances. It also helped paint Akiteru in a new light for him, one that wasn’t a hopeless romantic, and more of one that was… a hard-working, competent older brother who cared a lot about his siblings and girlfriend. Ex-girlfriend. It was getting a lot harder to differentiate the two.

As for Daichi, Sugawara had to throw a couple _looks_ at him more than once during his story while Daichi blushed and threw his elbow into Akiteru’s side. More than once. No wonder he had such strong biceps if he did that all the time.

Bokuto, for all of his credit, held back from interrupting the story, even though everything he said was completely projected by his expressions. Some of them were pretty surprising. Akaashi in the meantime, was thinking, and didn’t stop until Akiteru finished. When he did, Daichi was avoiding Sugawara’s eyes, Akaashi was staring at Akiteru like an unknown specimen, and Bokuto was clapping slowly.

“Dude.” Bokuto whistled. “I’ve bought from Saeko before. She’s never taking you back like that.” And Akaashi pinched his arm hard. “OW! Sorry…”

“He’s right,” said Daichi.

“Sorry, Akiteru,” said Sugawara.

“Do you know what you did wrong?” Akaashi said, eyebrow raised. Akiteru slumped. “You seemed to know when you were telling us.”

“Yes.” Sugawara was surprised with Akiteru’s instant reply. “But I can’t play piano again.”

“Is that so?” Akaashi replied, and without much more. He took a moment, and then turned to Bokuto. “You can talk now.”

“Okay so HERE’S THE THING.” Bokuto waved his hands to Akiteru with dramatic flair, eyes dropping with seriousness. “Akaashi tells me in situations like this I’m not allowed to tell you what to do.”

“What?” Akiteru said, horrified.

“He means figure it out yourself, Aki,” Daichi told him.

“SO! I’m gonna tell you a story instead.” Bokuto cleared his throat a couple times, waves his hands, and then leaned forward. “Once upon a time I proposed to my man Keiji here, AND IT WORKED. Look at this!” He picked up Akaashi’s hand and showed off the shiny ring on it. “It was AWESOME, we had fanfare.”

“Someone was throwing cans at him,” Akaashi said. The couch trio turned skeptical of their storyteller.

“Komi wasn’t being very nice that day, okay!?” Akaashi pat Bokuto’s hand and urged him to get to the point. “Anyway, BEFORE I proposed, I had to practice, y’know? I was like, ‘It’s kind of like volleyball, right?? The more I practice the cooler I’ll be!’ So if I was able to do a really awesome spike, I used that feeling and did a test run on one of my teammates!”

“Wow,” Daichi and Akiteru said. Sugawara wasn’t sure if it was out of shock or awe.

“You did what?” said Akaashi, aghast.

“No, it was cool, I swear! We were in the States and I didn’t have to worry about him suddenly sneaking in or someone blabbing out for me. The team actually talked me out of some pretty cool ideas, though.” Akaashi, for his part, looked suspiciously relieved of this fact. “But when I got back, you know, I almost backed out, I was freaking out so bad. You know that feeling?” Akiteru nodded quickly. “RIGHT, but dude, I was too READY to back out! After all of that effort and thinking about all of the possibilities and dreaming twenty different futures for us there was no way I could ditch after that!”

“Koutarou,” Akaashi said, unable to meet anyone’s eyes at this point.

“THE POINT IS, practice makes perfect! Even in relationships, right? So we’ve just gotta do that!”

And Akiteru, in all of his mystified wonder and foolishness, tainted with being the one with the least Bokuto experience in the room, looked up and asked, “How?”

Bokuto wasted no time. He immediately grabbed for Akiteru and placed him into the center of the room, took two seconds looking over at Daichi and Sugawara, and then moved them far into the back corner, by a friendly-looking potted plant. He picked Akaashi up from his chair and settled him down right across from Akiteru, pushing the two rolling chairs out of the way and flopping down into the especially spinny one in a place he could observe them well.

With his chin in his hands, he turned to Akiteru and told him, “Good! Now just pretend Keiji is Saeko and do your best to take him, er, her back!”

“…Why him?” Akiteru asked, baffled. Akaashi’s eyes asked the very same question under much more vigor.

“Because he’s the prettiest in the room!” Bokuto declared, making Akaashi bury his face in his hands. Daichi and Sugawara looked at each other, each feeling vaguely offended by the comment but unable to argue. “Saeko is your GIRL. We need realism here!”

“Okay… Saeko.” Akiteru took a deep breath and met Akaashi’s eyes. Akaashi did his best to look back. It didn’t take long for Akiteru to crack. “I’m sorry, I can’t do this, he’s—”

“No, this can be helpful,” Akaashi told him reluctantly, and took a proper stance. “Apologize to her, through me. How would you do it?”

“For real?”

Akaashi took a breath. “…Yes, go for it.”

“Right… Alright, here it goes.” Akiteru shook off his jitters and stood up straight, new conviction in his eyes. “Saeko, I… I know you’re disappointed in me, and I am so sorry about that. You should have been enough to help me move on from the pressure from everyone; committee, my parents, and all of the trouble at home, but I just… I blew it. I screwed it up with you, and Hitoka, and, dammit, I screwed so much up for Kei…” He swallowed, but continued to look forward. “I know that if I want to fix this, I need to be the man you want me to be.”  

In two steps, Akiteru took Akaashi’s hands and looked deep into his eyes, determined. Sugawara and Daichi went rigid. “If you can wait for me, then I’m begging you, know that I never stopped thinking about you. You are the light of my life, and—”

“CUT, CUT.” Bokuto grabbed the collar of Akiteru’s shirt and yanked him off of a mortified Akaashi. He glared at Akiteru through his lazy eye before setting him a full meter from his husband. “Hands to yourself, Piano Man,” he warned.

Bokuto then lead Akaashi out of the Saeko position and set him down in the second desk chair protectively. He then walked over to the other side of the room, snagged Sugawara, and then placed him into the exact position Akaashi had been in when in character.

“Perfect,” Bokuto cheered, adjusting Sugawara’s hands tediously. When he was finished, he took his place next to Akaashi. “Alright, CONTINUE.”

“Now hold on just a minute,” Daichi interrupted, stepping forward.

 

* * *

 

 

“That went splendidly,” Sugawara told the group in his best passive-aggressive tone, and took a moment to take in Daichi and Akiteru’s completely red faces. Feeling soft, he gave Daichi a good pat on the arm. “Why don’t we go talk to an actual woman, now?

“Is that why we’re at the vet?” Akiteru said, looking up at the luminescent PetAID sign above them. Daichi made a vague gesture.

“Ennoshita got married last November,” Daichi explained, and then motioned to Sugawara, who waved back. “His wife is one of Suga’s best friends.”

“That’s how we met! I bought him coffee,” Sugawara told him, reminiscing the days where he could believe that Daichi was only a passing crush. Blissful ignorance. Daichi smiled in what seemed to be the same memory but with less romantic heartache.

Akiteru peered at the two of them, opened his mouth, closed it, and then in a nervous breath, “Let’s do this.” And they entered the vet.

In their arrival, they were immediately greeted by a familiar face, at least, to Sugawara. A blonde head poked out from behind the counter, and following a muffled series phone tones. He looked over at the trio’s way, became unimpressed at the lack of actual animals, and then narrowed his eyes. “Yes?”

Luckily, the waiting room was empty at the hour, so Sugawara had little qualms about leading Akiteru up to the front desk and bothering Kenma’s game time.

“Ah, Sugawara-san,” Kenma greeted, attention reverting back to his phone and not looking back up. “Did you come for questions about cats?”

“What?” Sugawara said, as Daichi turned to Sugawara with a curious expression. “ _No_ , I’m not getting a cat. I’m here with friends.”

Kenma blinked his big eyes up at him, unfazed. “But Kuro said…”

“Can we see Yui, please, Kenma?” Sugawara asked with strained politeness. Daichi was still smirking, even under the mention of Kuroo’s influence. Kenma, thankfully, stashed away his phone and disappeared to find his boss. Sugawara sensed that they may have given off some sense of ‘complicated conversationalists.’

“Do you think we can see the animals around here?” Akiteru asked the moment Kenma was out of sight, excited. “If they’re healthy, of course! I know Kei would love to have a dog soon, a big one. I mean, he’s always been really into dinosaurs, you should see his things. When he was younger, he used to put stickers on his sheet music and his instructor would get so upset with him, but you know how he is, he—”

“Aki,” Daichi interrupted. “You can’t adopt a dog here.”

Akiteru deflated, though Sugawara suspected it was more due to the fact that he couldn’t talk about his brother more than the dog part. And there, Yui took her chance to burst into the room.

“Koushi! Thank god you’re here,” Yui stumbled forward so Sugawara had to grab here and set her back on her own two feet again. She mock-wiped away sweat from her forehead and then took Sugawara by the shoulders and shook him. “It’s so cute, Koushi, but also really weird, oh my god.” She bounced, starry-eyed. “I have to show you, please, please— Who’s this?”

“Oh! It’s good to see you, I’m Tsukishima Akiteru.” Akiteru, as if by some rehearsed method, stood up straight and shook Yui’s hand, who shook it back enthusiastically.

“Hi! Welcome to Karasuno PetAid! I, of course, am Yui, ace veterinarian.” Yui spread her arms to show off the nametag on her chest and clinic scrubs. “And our lovely intern here manning the counter is Kenma! Say hello, buddy.”

“Hi,” said Kenma, hidden behind the counter.

“My dear husband Chikara is working at a special someone’s restaurant,” Yui motioned to the innocent-looking man next to Akiteru, who beamed proudly at the mention. “So you may know his handsome face. Very cute. Makes amazing crème brûlée. Doesn’t like to admit his mediocre karaoke skills.” Yui grinned to herself. “So, Akiteru, what can I do for you?”

“Are you going to hit me?”

“There’s a possibility,” Sugawara said, dodging good smack from Yui. “See?”

“She’s nice, you’ll be fine,” Daichi assured him.

By the time Akiteru was done explaining his situation for a second time, which was visibly beginning to show its effects, they were all gathered around the waiting room chairs with Yui’s office tea and break time digestive biscuits. Yui finished her biscuit before taking a good, long look at Akiteru. She then pat his knee and gave him pitying eyes.

“You’re in trouble,” she told him.

“I know,” Akiteru said solemnly. “I need to prove to her that I can be someone she can be proud of.”

“Well,” Yui began. “Have you told her that?”

“Told her what?” Akiteru asked. Yui sighed.

“The person you want to be, for her,” Yui told him, shaking her head. “Right now she probably thinks you’re still some pathetic twit that doesn’t know how to stick up for himself.”

Daichi and Sugawara glanced at each other and shifted uncomfortably in their seats. Daichi coughed into his fist and avoided Akiteru’s gaze.

“She won’t talk to me,” Akiteru confessed, and Yui made a hum of acknowledgement. “I just need to know how to make her know that I actually have something worth hearing, and then maybe she’ll actually come down and think I’m the person she fell for again.”

Yui’s expression softened. “Akiteru, she probably still thinks that now,” Yui told him, grin wide. “Girls don’t forget easily, trust me. They hold onto these feelings for a long time.”

“It’s true,” Daichi assured him, and Yui kicked his leg. He held his breath and cringed in pain.

“You brought that on yourself,” Sugawara told him unapologetically.

“What I mean is,” Yui continued. “Saeko’s stubborn; she’s a prideful woman! But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t love you just as much as she did back then. She’s just waiting for you to do something that can prove to her that that love is true!”

“As long as you don’t do anything stupid,” Daichi warned, and this time, Suga and Yui didn’t do anything to counter it. He seemed very insistent about it.

“I’m not going to do anything stupid, Daichi,” Akiteru argued, and then, less determined, buried his face in his hands and pushed his hair back. “Listen, guys, I know you all are trying to help, and I appreciate it, but I… I really don’t know if it’s even right to try and get her back. If I disappoint her again, it’ll be the same process all over again. And I need to focus on my family, too. Kei doesn’t play piano anymore, Hitoka is still so young and already struggling in her career, and I’m… I’m just some guy who dropped when things got too heated.”

“Okay, stop.”

Sugawara’s mouth was already half open with a retort when Daichi stood up. He looked over to Yui for a moment, who had already moved in to say something, but his mind kicked back into gear as soon as Daichi pulled Akiteru to his feet, creating a wall between Sugawara and his best friend that consisted of clear disappointment and shell-shock respectively.

“That,” Daichi began, voice harder than it had been all day, “is exactly why you are never going to get her back at this point. Look, that’s why she dumped you in the first place, Aki! Because you just gave up!”

Akiteru gaped, and then, after a beat, his eyes were flaring. “Daichi, you especially should know that it’s true! You were there when we met and the fallout and you know that I tried. I was trying to figure my life out so I could be someone that she and my family could be proud of again.”

“And yet, you’re still here, why do you think that is?” Daichi asked, backing Akiteru up a step. Yui looked over at Sugawara for a signal to stop them, but Sugawara shook his head. “One thing I learned today is that it’s not because you don’t love her, or because you’re not desperately trying to figure this out, but because you keep avoiding the obvious answers that shove themselves in your face because you’re too damn scared to take that first step.”

“I am fully capable of taking that step!” Akiteru snapped back. “I _want_ to, but I just…” He took in a sharp breath. “I don’t want to convince myself that I’m going back into performing just so she’ll date me.”

“Are you?” Daichi asked.

“I’m not,” Akiteru told him. “After I left I realized that that world, with the competing and struggle to please the judges every time, it wasn’t where I wanted my music to go. With Hitoka, it’s different, she does this for herself. She knows that this is where she can truly shine, and Kei looks up to her for that. She doesn’t have it easy, getting up there, she’s a nervous wreck every time, but the face she makes onstage is worth it all. She’s so _proud_ of herself, and me, I…” He exhaled. “…this music is mine. I can’t give it to just anyone.”

“Good,” Daichi told him, and his expression became tight, as if he was keeping a strong face. Yui covered her mouth and reddened cheeks. Daichi shook all excess emotion away, and returned Akiteru’s gaze with an expression so strongly determined and proud that something in Sugawara’s chest stopped. “Now you show her that, Aki. That you’ve found who you want to be.”

“I…” Akiteru blinked, and then, with newfound resolve, nodded in affirmation. “…That’s exactly what I’ll do.”

There was a brief moment of emotional silence, and then: “…Dammit, come here,” Daichi said, and met Akiteru for a rough hug. Sugawara and Yui moved right out of the way. “That took you forever, moron.”

“Sorry, Dai,” Akiteru told him. “But you were too cool for someone who’s never held a relationship over a year.”

“Screw you, Aki,” Daichi replied, and when things became an awkward silence, Sugawara and Yui knew it was time to intervene.

“Alright, boys,” Yui said, pulling Akiteru back as Sugawara pried away Daichi’s arms. She turned to Akiteru with a more thoughtful expression, her cheeks rosy and her eyes shining. “You know what to do now, don’t you, Lover Boy?”

“Yes,” Akiteru said, smile askew on his face. “I think I do.”

“And don’t buy her flowers from a different store again,” Daichi said as Sugawara hushed him.

“Trust me, Daichi, what I’m doing, I won’t need flowers,” Akiteru told him, and then paused. “Okay, maybe a few, but I have two musical siblings, a chef best friend, and a piano sitting somewhere in your restaurant that I know is still there after all these years.”

“You have a piano?” Sugawara said, turning to Daichi, who shrugged.

“I might have angrily stashed it away after Aki quit.”

“Ennoshita-san.” The new voice tore all of them away from any premise of conversation they had, and everyone turned to the not lost, but definitely forgotten Kenma Kozume. He seemed less unimpressed and more awkward this time, ignoring the nervous shuffling around him. He kept his eyes on Yui. “Activity in the back needs your supervision.”

“Oh! God, that reminds me! Koushi!” Yui yanked Sugawara away from Daichi and grabbed his shoulders, just as she had done not too long ago. “You’ll never believe who showed up!”

Kenma made a face that made Sugawara think that this was a heavily bias opinion before murmuring an “Excuse me,” before sneaking back away to behind the counter. “What’s going on?” Sugawara asked.

“Remember when that stray we got had puppies and Big Tony, who turned out to be Big Antonia, had her kittens a while back?” Sugawara nodded, glowing in the memory. “It got _better_.”

Yui lead Sugawara into a back room where they kept their strays and healthy animals, and when she threw open the door, Sugawara’s eyes widened and it took every muscle in him not to laugh out loud at the scandalized looks he received.

“Kuroo, when I said to do something legal…”

“Shut up.”

Kuroo, seated up against the wall on the far side of the room, refused to move from the giant dog that had slumped itself over Kuroo’s lap and didn’t seem very keen on moving anytime soon. He seemed pretty distressed, especially after the entrance of an audience, but the children around him didn’t seem very insistent on saving him. Natsu was fighting off puppies who snapped up at the rope chew toy she used as a mock sword, and Yamaguchi was doing his best to cover Kei in as many cats as possible, including Big Antonia, who did her best to nuzzle her way under Kei’s shirt.

Kei himself looked especially mortified at being caught under cat mountain, and Yamaguchi blushed as soon as Sugawara and Yui found them.

Kuroo, still unable to move under the small bear of a dog, warned, “Suga, you take pictures and I swear I will sue your pretty face so hard you’ll have to bleed money to pay me.”

“Kei!?” Akiteru’s voice cut through the tension and Sugawara could swear he heard Kei muffle a scream when Akiteru’s face just lit up. His phone was in his hands and flashing in an instant. “No! No, don’t move! I want to show these to Hitoka!”

From next to Sugawara, he heard Daichi sigh. “I remember when Tobio was that small.”

“This is why I’m a teacher,” Sugawara said, bumping his shoulder into Daichi, who snorted as they watched as Kei tried his best to escape the cats as Natsu and Yamaguchi tried to save as many as possible. Sugawara could shed a tear at their efforts, this would all be on the internet in less than an hour anyway.

 

* * *

 

 

The day ended not too long after they were finished saying goodbye to the pets. They met with Hitoka and Kiyoko back at the restaurant, and Akiteru gathered up his sister for photos and the exciting new prospect of going back to their hotel and _planning_ for something. Hinata showed up not too long afterwards, which subtly notified Sugawara to why he couldn’t find Tobio anywhere on the premises, and rounded up Yamaguchi and Natsu as he got his ear talked off about a day with “Prince Kei and the Dark Wizard.”

Daichi, of course, had work to do. The moment he stepped into the restaurant, it was if a switch had been turned on, and his pupils dilated, his shoulders hitched, and he began to shake. But before he could escape, he was able to stop and catch Sugawara. “Suga, thank you so much for coming with me today, sorry if it was weird, I just—”

“Don’t worry about it, I didn’t actually do much, really,” Sugawara told him with his best straight face. “Akiteru was right, you know, you were actually really cool.”

“Really?” Daichi said, as if his work-directed mind had trouble processing this.

“Promise. Until you got to the awkward hugging, but I get it.” Daichi looked taken aback for a moment, and then offended. Sugawara just grinned wide and gave Daichi an encouraging knock on his shoulder. “But he’s back on his feet now. Seriously, I think I might have fallen for you back there.”

They laughed. It wasn’t a joke.

“Thanks, Suga,” Daichi said, and managed a sheepish smile. Sugawara took a sharp breath. “I have to get to work. Night.”

“Good night,” Sugawara said, watching Daichi escape into his office in the back, until the door closed shut behind him. And then under his breath, all at once, “Bye. See you tomorrow. And the day after. Stay safe. I love you…” Sugawara groaned and wound up picking a spot off his favorite place on the restaurant counter. He might as well have carved a heart. SK + SD 4 EVR.

He rubbed the chipped counter. No vandalism in Daichi’s restaurant. Though just as he was grumbling to himself, he began to feel the suspicious presence of someone watching him.

“U-Um… Suga?”

“ _What_ , oh, Asahi.” Sugawara let out a breath of relief when he noticed his friend hovering over him on the other side of the bar counter. His second best friend gave him a sympathetic look and paused in his professional counter-cleaning.

“You feeling okay? Yui sent me pictures of you guys at the vet.” Asahi held up the cat-covered pictures on his phone to show Sugawara. It helped alleviate the stress to remember Kuroo’s betrayed expression.

“Yeah, that was great.” Sugawara let himself feel elated in remembering the grand pet-scapade, and faced his friend properly. “You happy I’m stealing your boss away?”

Asahi sputtered and waved his hands. “No! I mean, he’s not a bad boss at all. He’s strict, but I mean, he’s a good guy. I’m happy for you guys!”

“Yeah,” Sugawara said, enthusiasm dying. He looked back down to the counter and continued to rub away.

Asahi’s expression fell. “Oh.”

“Asahi, why did you move in with Noya when Ennoshita moved out?” Asahi’s arm jerked and nearly sent him tripping his own feet.

“U-Uhm…! What are you talking about?” Asahi blithered, eyes darting around everywhere except Sugawara. “He needed a roommate, and I was free, and we’ve been friends since Ennoshita met Yui and you know how that went—”

“I mean the _thing_ ,” Sugawara said with obvious caution for his words. That didn’t stop Asahi from breaking out into sweat. “You know exactly what thing I’m talking about. I’ve always known, it was so obvious, Asahi. I could _feel_ you… going stupid. For… Ni… Yu… N…ew York”

“Suga, any way you put it isn’t going to help,” Asahi said in a small voice, though defeated.

“Then you know what I mean,” Sugawara said, meeting Asahi’s gaze. Asahi flinched, but gave in with the shake of his head.

“…Because you get it, okay?” Sugawara nodded. “It wasn’t because I was… weak to him, like Yui suggested. I mean, you, Yui, Ennoshita, Tanaka, and the Boss are the only ones who know about this whole…” He gave a vague gesture. “…problem.”

“Wait, _Daichi_ knows?” Sugawara gaped.

“You can’t hide anything from Daichi! He’s the boss!” Asahi protested, and then clammed right back up. Sugawara felt as if he had just swallowed something hard. “But you know, you all gave me the most sympathetic looks when I decided to actually take him up on it.” He sighed, a bit sadly. “I knew what I was doing, really. It’s just… after all of this time, I sort of gave up on avoiding him, you know? Before I knew it, I was just as much of a part of his life as Ennoshita or Tanaka were. And he loved it. It’s hard to turn away from that.”

“…Yeah, I… Yeah, I guess,” Sugawara said, giving Asahi a sympathetic gaze in return. It was hard to admit the relatability.

“But at least we can be friends, right?” Asahi said with a shred of optimism. Sugawara admired that. “He gets really sad if I start avoiding him, that’s just the kind of guy he is. I can’t stand him looking like that, it feels kinda selfish, really. It was better to take a chance, maybe find some hope of getting over it.”

Sugawara flicked at the counter. “Does he…”

“Trust me,” Asahi said, letting out a breath. “I already know he doesn’t.”

A pause. “So did it get better?” Sugawara asked. “Since you stopped avoiding him?”

It took a moment of thought, from taking in Sugawara’s lost expression to going through his own memories, before Asahi smiled and gave nothing but a small shrug. “I just accept that it’s never going anywhere and appreciate him for who he is to me already.”

“Asahi, I’m not sure whether to yell at you or hug you,” Sugawara told him, and Asahi became frazzled again.

“U-Um, it was just an honest opinion, I mean, it’s not as if this is part of a scheme or anything. Is it?”

“It’s okay, Yui and I already tried that a couple years ago.” Asahi blanched. “But if it was, that would be pretty hypocritical of me.” _See: Sawamura Tobio_. “I’ll think about that,” Sugawara promised.

“Uh… I’m not sure my advice is that helpful. It wasn’t advice at all, actually, so please don’t be mad at me if—”

“I know,” Sugawara assured him, allowing Asahi to relax.

“…So, Boss, huh?”

“If we’re using codenames, can we go for something a little less obvious? Because he is literally right in the next room over, and we are surrounded by people, so something thematic, right? Like… DC.”

“I… I can’t really call him anything else…” Asahi muttered, so Sugawara allowed him to go on. “You guys are helping out Akiteru and his family, right?”

“More like helping Akiteru,” Sugawara clarified. “Hitoka and Kiyoko are exploring the city while Kei is… making friends.”

“Right,” Asahi said, in possession of photograph evidence of such friendship.

“We’re helping him with his Saeko trouble.” Asahi went shock still at the mention of the name reflexively, and quickly recovered. “I think we got him! Well, Daichi got to him. I think Akiteru almost kissed his therapist, but…”

“Oh!” Asahi perked up, stopping Sugawara in his tracks. “Ah… Sorry, you just reminded me of something…”

Sugawara narrowed his eyes. About kissing therapists? “What?”

“I mean, there was someone else who was there with the Boss when Akiteru and Saeko were getting together.” Asahi rubbed the back of his neck shyly as he dug through his brain for the right things to say. “I just thought if you needed someone to talk about him then they might be the best person…”

“Talk about Daichi? Why would I need someone to talk about Daichi with?” Sugawara said.

“No reason! I mean, talking to you guys helped me a lot too, but you guys, well, No-New York is a pretty easy per-place to learn about?”

Sugawara stared. “You’re right that does sound weird…”

“It’s just that she might be helpful in letting you clear your head about him!” Asahi told him with all sincerity. “If you want to, I can just point you her way…”

Sugawara looked back over this day, and then over the past few months. About times he thought he would get over Daichi, when he almost got over Daichi, when Tobio threw him right back into that road again by just showing his angry face and tossing a volleyball right into his heart. And then people started finding out, and then Daichi started being _amazing_ and they watched movies together, and went out to eat together, and went on romantic escapades together (albeit for and with other people), and it was as if nothing was even working for him anymore and he was so utterly _trapped._

Wow, this was horrible.

“Alright.” Sugawara sat up and squared his shoulders. “Sign me up for DC therapy. Who am I seeing?”

Asahi told him. Sugawara wasn’t sure when he finally processed what he said, but it sure wasn’t quickly.

“…Really?”

Asahi’s face fell knowingly and he nodded. Well, Sugawara asked for it. It was still his decision if he were actually to go through with it, right? 

 

* * *

 

 

He went through with it.

Given, it took him an entire night and morning to mull over, but he still decided to take the time to venture all the way into the city to the appointed place. Sugawara spent a long while staring up at the glowing local gymnasium sign above him. He shifted on both feet for the twentieth time, coughed into his hand, felt the frostbite stinging his cheeks, and then threw his hands into the air and reached for the door.

Another hand reached for it as well.

Sugawara snapped back, and recognition hit him like a truck the moment he met blue eyes. “What the… Tobio? What are you doing here?”

“Sugawara-san?” Tobio said, voice breaking. “Why aren’t you with Daichi?”

 _I’m here for Daichi, does that count?_ “Daichi is working, he missed a lot yesterday,” Sugawara answered honestly. “Why are you… is that Shimizu?”

“ _No_ ,” Tobio said, though he didn’t go very far with the argument, as one Kiyoko Shimizu stepped right around him and greeted Sugawara with a polite bow.

“Sugawara-san,” she said, looking faintly mystified. “It’s good to see you again.”

“Hello, Kiyoko,” Sugawara replied, and stopped the moment Tobio looked as if he might have an aneurysm. “Are you…”

“You need a membership card to get in. Would you like me to lead you inside?” Kiyoko held up her golden card as an offering.

Well, that was a lot better than Sugawara was hoping to go. “You’re such a good child, Kiyoko.” And then he stuck right onto Tobio as they were lead in. “When did you become best friends with Shimizu Kiyoko?”

“I… She’s going to be our manager, so I just thought…” Tobio swallowed and stalled for long enough him to get kidnapped by Shimizu again and she set them down by the cafeteria area, just by the locker rooms.

Kiyoko turned to Sugawara. “Sugawara-san, if you want to talk to my coach, then I can send her your way.”

“How did you know I wanted to talk to her?” Sugawara said, surprised.

“She’s mentioned you.” Tobio choked at the comment, something Sugawara wasn’t sure if he wanted to have expanded on, but Kiyoko disappeared not a second later, leaving them together.

“…She’s cool,” Tobio said after a very long pause. “Kiyoko, I mean. We’re going running on Sunday.”

“Really?” Sugawara perked up and gazed at Tobio with pride. “That’s great! You said she was going to be your manager?”

“Our current one need a replacement for next year and she volunteered so…! Stop looking at me like that!” Sugawara smacked the splitting grin off of his face. Tobio glared hard. “She told me she could show me some of her exercises here. She wants help for strength.”

“When are you going to rope her into a game?” Sugawara made a tossing motion with his hands, and smirked when Tobio huffed.

“Tomorrow,” he said. “She told me she had practice today.”

“Foiled again,” Sugawara said mockingly with the snap of his fingers, and just then, Kiyoko reappeared in a long-sleeved unitard, hair pulled up and glasses gone.

“You should take off your shoes,” she told them, and not just Tobio. “We don’t like scuff marks on the mats.”

Once she had them out, she immediately pulled Tobio away and began discussing something strongly with him before showing off a perfect backflip. Sugawara didn’t know she could do that. Wait, this was…

“ _Koushi-kun?_ ”

Sugawara turned to see the unexpectedly shocked face of a woman he never thought he’s have the pleasure of meeting again, but instead of life-threatening heels and bright makeup, she was sweating in dulled gym clothes and had gathered her hair into a tight bun. She seemed genuinely confused by Sugawara’s mere presence in her workplace, as if he couldn’t have been here, by some force of law.

“Good afternoon, Mizushima-san.” Sugawara smiled and waved as he thought, _Daichi dated a gymnast I am so screwed._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> drinking game for how many times sugawara finds the convenient opportunity to touch daichi. two shots if it's his arms.


	11. if i'm wrong, i am right

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Sugawara's curiosity gets the best of him, and somebody has a secret.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. Happy Anniversary TWB !! what the fuck  
> 2\. As part of our yearly celebration, Chapter 1 has been rewritten! You can take a look back and see the new beginning of this story just by going to the index above.  
> 3\. TWB is going to be about less than 20 chapters i fixed it thank god.  
> 4\. THANK YOU EVERYONE SO MUCH FOR YOUR LOVE AND SUPPORT I LOVE YOU ALL i couldn't do it without any of yall  
> 5\. welcome to plot

When he first started out, it wasn’t uncommon to see Asahi on the brink of tears every time he stepped up to the stove. It was sad, because Ennoshita liked to think he was doing his former senior a favor by recommending him to Daichi. Daichi was the best boss he could ask for, thoughtful, reliable, the best balance between strict and compassionate. Ennoshita always told himself Daichi and Asahi were good friends now. Great, even. Asahi had gotten a lot better after all this time.

When Daichi wasn’t in the kitchen.

“Asahi?”

“Yes, Boss?” Asahi’s voice was the one of a destructing man.

“Are you hiding something from me?” Daichi asked, sautéing a pan of shrimp. It was like witnessing a train wreck. Seeing Daichi cook was as brilliant as watching the sun rise, the way he was able to move so naturally, but the fact he had come in the kitchen at all was a reason for concern. And everyone knew that. Asahi knew that best.

“W-Why would you think that I’d be hiding something from you?” Asahi said. It was as if he had a mouth full of rocks.

“Because I’m stressed, Asahi,” Daichi said, cold as ice. Ennoshita, a witness, could feel the staff’s motivation escalate into the ceiling. “It’s a holiday, my friends won’t talk to me because of yesterday, my brother out doing some training regime he won’t tell me about, Suga won’t pick up the phone, and all I have left to distract myself is making my restaurant is running perfectly and efficiently.”

In one movement, he swept the shrimp onto a prepared plate, and it seemed to organize itself into beautiful perfection at his command. Asahi was the only one not staring at the magic happening right next to him, because one look in Daichi’s direction would make him spontaneously combust.

Unfazed, Daichi took the concoction Asahi was stirring and finished up the dish. “This includes my employees, Asahi,” he said. “Didn’t you know? You’re part of a system. My system.”

And Daichi smiled. At this, Ennoshita was reminded that the only reason he had the courage to propose to Yui was because, somehow, that wasn’t as scary as the look his boss had right now. “The only reason you’ve lucked out now is that I don’t have a girlfriend right now, so I can put every bit of my focus on figuring out if it was you who broke those glasses last week.”

Ennoshita choked and rammed into the counter, but Daichi didn’t look up, because he was lying. He already knew it was Ennoshita who had tripped and destroyed those glasses. Daichi had been very stressed lately, so the only reason his paycheck survived was because Sugawara was like some magical Daichi softener and Daichi had become some administrative saint. But nobody else knew about that miracle, Sugawara was ignoring Daichi, and Asahi was victim #1.

“This isn’t a hard question,” Daichi told him, and it was so, misleadingly simple.

In a panic, Asahi’s eyes darted around the kitchen, but the only people to look back were the brave: Kamasaki, who shook his head with a quick mouthing of “don’t do it, man,” Nakashima, who gave him an optimistic look that said “maybe he’ll only kill you halfway,” and Ennoshita himself, who felt really bad for staring at Asahi as if he were about to go to a funeral.

“I-I… I…” Asahi swallowed audibly. “W-Well, Suga and I… were just talking yesterday…”

Daichi’s smile disappeared. “What? Is he okay?”

“No! I mean, yes, he’s fine. He’s just, I mean. We’ve been friends since high school, you know, and I just wanted to help—”

“Is he fine or not?” Daichi asked. His gaze hardened. “Or did you—”

“I only told him where to find Mizushima-san!”

It was as if, at that moment, the entirety of the staff took one, sharp breath of horrific realization. Daichi’s eyes seemed to dilate while his hands, unable to rest, gripped the counter. Asahi, aware of his mistake, appeared to give up on life.

“Office, now,” Daichi said. Not calmly, but not sternly either. He was more distressed than anything, and Ennoshita liked to believe he knew him well enough to tell. “Ennoshita.”

“Ah.” Ennoshita snapped back to attention when Daichi’s eyes met his. “Yes?”

He was handed the shrimp dish. “Table five,” Daichi told him with a stiff, terribly forced smile that was supposed to make things seem as if they were alright. For Daichi, they weren’t, but it was better to pretend as if they were,so that he could keep his predictable system.

“Yes, sir,” Ennoshita said, and watched the funeral march that was Daichi and Asahi disappearing from the kitchen. When they were gone, the kitchen staff groaned like the end of the world had come and gone. Ennoshita left quickly before the gossip started, distracting himself from Asahi’s predicament by focusing on his envy of whoever ordered this dish.

 

* * *

 

“Koushi-kun, if you want to impress Daichi, why are you doing that here, in front of his ex-girlfriend, and not in front of him?”

“Because he dated a gymnast and still broke up with her,” Sugawara said, calm as he tried his best not to deepen the splits any further. Finally, a time where he could use his five years of yoga as something more than a destresser. Though he wasn’t sure if he could actually get any more impressive than this.

“Fuck you, you didn’t know that until today.” Yuri dropped down into her own splits as easily as sitting down. She was able to meet Suga’s eyes sinister brown ones. Little did she know, Sugawara charged through weeks battling one elementary school parent after the other, Yuri could only try to match. “I’ll have you know that that was far from a negative part of our relationship.”

Sugawara fell into a chilling silence. Yuri, upon realization of her implications, slowly dropped her cocky attitude.

“Sorry,” she said, awkward for once.

“It’s okay, the truth is harsh,” Sugawara said. “Can we stop doing this?”

“Yes.” And they both rolled back into resting position. It was much more appealing to watch Kiyoko try to teach Tobio how to use the balance beam than talk about Daichi’s past relationship with his ex. In an alternate universe where a workaholic chef wasn’t the bane of his existence, maybe that could have been the reason he came.

Across the room, Tobio’s eyes lit up at Kiyoko completing her handstand. Sugawara sighed with content. “He’s putting in so much effort,” he said affectionately.

“He’s a little bastard,” Yuri said. “Taking up _my_ student’s practice time.”

“Well I think she looks like she’s having a great time hanging out with him,” Sugawara declared as they watched Kiyoko help Tobio up on the beam. “Look, he’s so happy to have her around. I’m proud of him.”

“KICK HIS BUTT, KIYOKO-CHAN!” Yuri yelled, only Tobio to glare at her in pure spite before following up on Kiyoko’s routine. Wow, he was a fast learner. Yuri cringed. “What the fuck is wrong with him.”

Sugawara flashed her a brilliant grin, one half pride and half defiance. “That’s my student.”

“Okay we can stop avoiding the topic of Daichi’s sex life now,” Yuri said, and Sugawara choked. “You asked for it!”

“It’s not what I came here to talk about!” Sugawara shot back. It was half a lie, if he was being honest with himself. He huffed. “This is Daichi we’re talking about, I’m trying to get him out of my head.”

“Are you desperate or something?” Yuri asked. “To come to his ex’s workplace and ask?”

“I’d like to think I haven’t sunk so low.” He already had, but it was nice to dream.

“Fine,” Yuri grumbled, and hopped onto her feet. “So what exactly is it that brought you here?”

“Well.” Sugawara went over the past few months a couple times. “I met him at my best friend’s wedding. Not like the Julia Roberts movie but more like the Hugh Grant one, where I’m with my single guys crew and meet the Andie MacDowell of my dreams in the form of a handsome older brother who happens to be my best friend’s husband’s boss. Except we don’t sleep together and he still leaves at the end, but we end up meeting again later and then it stops being the Hugh Grant movie because there’s only one wedding and no funerals and his brother is the instigator of everything, and he throws Andie MacDowell right back into my face so he can ruin my life.”

Over the course of his explanation, Yuri’s eyes seemed to have glazed over. “Are these American movies?”

“One of them is?” Sugawara said.

“You know what, I’m just going to let the kids have fun and you and I are going to go out on a walk.”

 

* * *

 

Mizushima Yuri only seemed to have gotten even more threatening when bundled up in three layers of clothes. Not because it made her more attractive, but it was a lot more frightening standing next to a taller woman with the permanent the attitude of someone who wanted your head over their fireplace. At least, that’s how it felt when people avoided her path on the sidewalk. She was like a fashionable yeti.

Yuri, oblivious to the effect of her own appearance, peered down at Sugawara from the space between her beanie and her scarf and said, “Did the cold weather make you look prettier or something?”

“Of course not,” Sugawara told her, knowing full well from experience that something probably did. “But you were the one who wanted to go out, so I might as well start from the beginning.”

“It’s okay.” Yuri quickly held up a hand to stop him. “Daichi told me everything.”

 _What_ , Sugawara thought as his heart dropped to his feet.

“Daichi,” Yuri hissed, and the visible cold air curled around her like a snake, “talks about your _all the time_. Do you realize what that’s like? I’m his ex-girlfriend, we shouldn’t even be friends, but we are because _I’m stupid_. And I’m the one who has to sit through conversations like “Oh, yeah, Taeko broke up with me, oops,” and “You wouldn’t believe who I met at Ennoshita’s wedding, he was so nice,” and “I’ve never seen Tobio like warm up to someone so quickly before,” and “Oh my god Yuri, Suga was so terrible at wingmanning yesterday, god, he’s the best, I can’t believe I haven’t noticed him all these years why don’t I _marry him, Yuri, huh?_ ””

As she stood there, out of breath, Sugawara’s eyes were big with wonder. “How much are you exaggerating?”

“ _A lot_.” Sugawara deflated. “You’re not the only one who has to let off a little steam because of this man,” Yuri said, though lightly, as if she had took the time to consider Sugawara’s disappointment. “Fine, I was only exaggerating a little. I don’t know what you did to him but you’re like the guardian angel of his dreams, it’s like you dropped from the sky and picked him up when he was dead and dying. Except you bully him. He’s been complaining about that more. Don’t worry, I personally think he needs it.”

For once, Sugawara agreed. He grinned. “I’m glad I’m getting through to him.”

“Big baby,” Yuri huffed, and burrowed into her coat.

As awkward as the situation may have been, it did occur to Sugawara that Yuri would probably answer anything he wanted. He should take advantage of this. “When did you and Daichi date?”

“Five years ago.” She took a moment to think. “More like four and a half if you want to say when we _dated_.”

“You sure are quick to answer,” Sugawara chided. “Have you been counting?”

“Absolutely not!” Yuri shot back in a tone that said she actually had been. “You don’t know what it was like when Saeko was still around. She would rub it in my face _all the time_. Like, who cares if we’d been dating a year or four years!? She still broke up with him!”

Sugawara wasn’t sure how sensitive he should be about this. “I’m not sure how much you’ve heard, but Akiteru’s actually very much ready to take her back.”

“Are you serious!?” Oh, so she didn’t know. “Uuugh.” Yuri buried her face in her hands and leaned her head against a store wall.

“That’s what we were doing yesterday,” Sugawara said to the pitiful sight before him. “For someone so in-tuned to Daichi’s life I’m surprised you didn’t hear about it.”

“He never told me he was helping Akiteru! I gave Kiyoko-chan some time off so she could spend some time with her little cruuuu…” Yuri clammed up and stared at Sugawara for a minute, and cleared her throat. “I heard they were back in town but I didn’t think they were actually getting back together.”

“Wait, what about Kiyoko—”

“And _fine_ , so I didn’t think they’d actually break up in the first place, but can you blame me? They were like _this_.” Yuri crossed both of her fingers together and waved them in Sugawara’s face as if he couldn’t see how horrible it was. “They were together _all the time_. The way Akiteru would look at her and the disgusting way she would talk about him; I couldn’t take it! It’s no wonder they’re the reason I broke up with… with…” She stopped, groaned, and then slid down the wall to bury her face in her knees.

Sugawara waited. “Well?”

Yuri made a distressed sound. “You already know what I’m going to say.”

“That you were jealous of Akiteru and Saeko’s relationship because Daichi wouldn’t treat you the same?”

“Weren’t you supposed to be kind and sensitive?”

Sugawara only smiled. “You know, Daichi used to say the same things, but he still treats me right.”

“You smug bastard.” Sugawara held in a laugh. “Hey, I’m depressed now. Buy me food and maybe I’ll tell you more.”

Fair enough. “I’ll get you cake,” Sugawara told her, with a hand to help her up.

“Fuck that, I want yakiniku.”

“Only if you tell me more about how Daichi indirectly professes his love for me.”

 

* * *

 

“When I say a year,” Yuri said through her undercooked beef, stuffing meat into her mouth like a teenage girl devoured ice cream after a bad break up. “This is actually very impressive. Daichi never dates girls for more than a few months. He’s like the worst boyfriend ever.”

Sugawara tossed more vegetables onto the grill. They’d chosen a relatively cheap place, namely because neither of them actually had fitting salaries to cover anything more, so it was still pretty cold and drafty, but Yuri was pouring out more information than an encyclopedia. It was amazing what barbecue and beer could do to the woman. “That’s hard to believe,” Sugawara told her truthfully.

“That’s because you’re not Daichi’s temporary girlfriend,” Yuri said. “It’s not that pitiful that he wasn’t paying enough attention to me. I was probably the only one he liked.”

Sugawara gave her a flat look.

“ _I was!_ I wouldn’t say it if I wasn’t a little sure of it.” Despite this, Yuri had to dwell on her words. “Y… Yeah. Listen, all of that talk before about the truth being harsh and stuff, I was honestly the only girl he ever slept with.”

 _Oh_. Sugawara fumbled with his chopsticks. “Really? Not that I’m insulting you, but _why_?”

“That was… I don’t know! It was as if he’d never properly dated anyone before. I mean, he wasn’t _bad_ , it wasn’t bad, I still…” She trailed off, and saw Sugawara peering at her as if to dare her to continue. “Well it wasn’t like that kept us together!”

“It’s okay, it’s not like I’ll ever know,” Sugawara said, and swallowed down a plate of shrimp.

“You’re so confident that he’ll never like you,” Yuri said. “I mean is it really that bad to think that Daichi might like you back?”

Sugawara paused. This wasn’t the first time he’d been asked this question, Tobio wanted him to know all the time; he just never used Sugawara as the prime subject. He sighed. “I’m not going to walk in and screw over with Daichi’s personal feelings just to get my heart torn out of my chest again.”

“Again?” Yuri said.

“Um.” Sugawara blushed and turned over some of the vegetables on the grill. “I mean I don’t want to lose anyone else that’s important to me. I came here to know how to deal with these feelings, not act on them.”

“Wow, was it that bad?”

“Hmm.” Sugawara only responded by casually stealing her food. This seemed to distract her enough for her to let go of the subject. “So Daichi never liked them enough for them to stay?”

“Huh?” Yuri blinked up from shoving her retrieved meat back into her mouth. “Aw, yeah, I guess.” She swallowed.

Sugawara pouted. “Then why does he go out with all of them? It doesn’t seem as if he dislikes it.”

“Uh…” Yuri thought for a moment. “It’s kind of like he’s making new friends every month, and they’re the only ones expecting something more.”

“So he’s leading them on,” Sugawara said, unimpressed.

“Ugh, I know, right? That bastard,” Yuri growled. “But for real, I think he’s expecting something different, too. It’s as if his idea of dating and theirs are different. Like he doesn’t see them as girlfriends. I was a girlfriend, at least he treated me like someone he was dating. They’re more like… partners? Like they’re part of a project. They both have something they have to do together, and he doesn’t think that’s possible alone.”

That was… interesting. “So he goes out with girls, but not for the purpose of dating them?”

“Yeah, basically.” Yuri leaned in as she got more thoughtful. “That’s kind of what we were fighting about that one time. When Daichi broke the glass.”

“Huh?” Sugawara froze. “That was Daichi?”

“Yeah, we were having drinks and I was trying to figure out his motives. Wondering when he was gonna find another girl, what was gonna happen, saying it was the same-old, same-old.” She poked at the vegetables on the girl. “Then I brought up what Tobes and what he thought about Daichi’s who deal and he got pissed.”

 _Oh,_ Sugawara thought. _It was about Tobio?_ That seemed to make a lot more sense. He’d thought it was Yuri who had taken action that night, but not in that way.

“You know, when we were going out, he was more… um… playful, I guess. He wasn’t afraid to fight with me or kiss me when the time was right. I was right under Tobio in importance, and probably the restaurant too, but at least I was somewhere in that hierarchy.” Yuri shut her eyes in remembrance, and then took a big swig of beer. _Same_ , Sugawara thought. “But with them, it’s like he’s dealing with glass dolls. He’s so _boring_. It’s all business. They’ll ask him to go out and he’ll just be all surprised, like that’s not something they’re _supposed_ to do.”

“Wow, he is terrible,” Sugawara said, feeling secretly relieved yet disappointed in Daichi at the same time. If he were here Sugawara would make fun of him for it, but he wasn’t, so he could only sigh regretfully in Daichi’s place. “I thought it was only because he was so invested in the Flightless Crow that he never paid any attention to them. That sounds like him.”

Yuri stared at him, and Sugawara felt as if he had said something wrong again. He shot back a challenging look, and waited for her to swallow her food. “A lot to say for someone Daichi can barely leave that place without.”

“Is this going to be about how much Daichi loves me again?” Sugawara asked her.

“Well, he gets excited about your movie dates, cooks for you, talks about his feelings to you, trusts you with his brother, takes you to a concert, apparently can’t talk to his distressed best friend without you… And it’s different from Akiteru, and all of those girls, and _me_ , you’re like his best friend-boyfriend thing. He really cares about you.”

Sugawara met Yuri’s eyes. “But what does he want from me?”

“Companionship!” Yuri threw her hands up. “You can’t see that? That’s what he values from you. You care, you understand. Not just about him, what’s important to him. Hisfamily. His stupid brother! It’s like you’re the only one who can! He just wants you _there_.”

“What if it’s not the same as what I want? Do you expect me to just go up to him and confess that being friends isn’t enough? It’s just going to be like all of those other girls who expected too much. I’m not going to watch another person I care about disappear from my life!”

Yuri had shut her mouth the moment Sugawara raised his voice. The voices of the restaurant had come to a low murmur to see what the commotion was about, but he wasn’t up for saying much more. It was already embarrassing enough as it was.

“Oh, um, sorry,” Sugawara said. His laugh was pitched, nervous. For the first time since he met her, Yuri looked worried. “But you understand, right?”

“I, uh…” Yuri stared at him.

“Sir?” The waitress stepped into view, looking relieved to see he wasn’t as frantic as before. “Would you like to split the bill?”

“No, I’ll—”

“Nah, it’s fine, split it,” Yuri said before him, and turned off the grill. “Don’t worry about it, Koushi-kun.”

“Why? This is basically payment for talking to me about Daichi,” Sugawara told her. “You asked for it.”

“You don’t have to pay me to talk to you, I’m not a hostess,” Yuri grumbled, and then she slammed her hand down on the table, rattling the plates. “And you made me feel bad! Dammit! Just shut up and answer your damn phone!”

“My phone— Oh.” It was ringing, he’d been too distracted to notice. I didn’t look like it was from a number he knew about. He was about to turn it off, but Yuri wasn’t having any of that.

“Go outside and answer it,” she told him, waving him off. “Go! I’m frustrated now! Just come back to pay!”

“Sorry about yelling at you,” he told her as he got up.

“Shut up and go!” And he went.

Though, even standing in the snow in the new February afternoon, waiting for the unknown number to fade out, Sugawara felt more anxious than anything. It was true that controlling his emotions was something he had been getting better at recently, but it looked like he hadn’t gotten all of them under control. He didn’t think that was possible, anyway. He took deep breaths and watched the small, cold clouds drift to and from his lips, wondering how he could have expected anything different.

He wondered how Daichi had gotten over it. Feeling like this. Sometimes Sugawara felt as if Daichi was too confident, but he’d tell himself that it was because Daichi was stronger. He’d learned how to move on. But something like this, the feeling of loss, seemed inescapable to him.

He remembered the one time Daichi had explained it to him. How Tobio would always remind him of his mother, so he would never forget. But something seemed missing from that conversation. Something about the way Daichi had carefully pulled his mother’s photograph out of his hands.

Sugawara pressed his back against the wall and watched his screen turn off. With one last breath, he started his mental checklist of a healthy emotional state. Reassuring thoughts. He was getting somewhere. He still had Yui and Asahi, he had a much better social circle, a good job—

And then his phone went off again, breaking his train of thought. “What?” He said aloud, when he spied the same number. Suspicious, he decided to pick up. “Hello?”

“Oh! Sugawara-san, I thought you wouldn’t actually pick up.”

Sugawara straightened up. He recognized that voice. “Akiteru?”

“Sorry to bother you,” he said, and it was nice to hear from someone actual politeness in them after the long day he’d had. “I was asking Daichi for a favor and we’d just gotten to talking and I heard you were an elementary school teacher?”

That wasn’t what he’d been expecting. “That’s right, I teach fourth grade at the same elementary school Tadashi and Natsu go to,” he said. Right, he thought about teaching. That always made him feel better. “Why? Do you want someone better than my neighbor babysitting your kids?”

“No! No, Kuroo-san is fine. The kids love him.” Sugawara’s eyes widened. Really? “But is it okay if I ask you could help me out? I just want to ask you about a few things.”

“Oh,” Sugawara said. This could help. Talking about work would help. “I’d be happy to,” he reassured.

“Thanks.” Akiteru sounded relieved, and Sugawara felt pride in it. “Well… do you like your job?”

Sugawara felt a grin fit onto his face. This, he could talk about this for hours.

“Let me tell you something about teaching, Akiteru…”

 

* * *

 

Throughout the course of his conversation with Akiteru, Sugawara had managed to go back, pay with Yuri, watch her stomp back to the gym, and find a nice park to circle until he found a place to stop talking about his job. And the kids. And how proud he was about the kids. It lifted his mood straight out of the ditch it had been in before, and Akiteru was eating it up.

“Now this is only my opinion, but if I had to compare them to teenagers, I’d say they’re much simpler. They want simple things, they make simple things, but when you put it all together at the end of the day, it never makes that much sense. You just have to accept it. The thing is that you just have to make things as simple as possible for them to understand.” Sugawara made a contemplative sound. “The easiest way is to just be honest with them. They’ll be happy as long as they get what you’re saying.”

Akiteru gave a big sigh. “Ah, that reminds me of Kei when he was younger. He was such a sweet kid; he loved listening to me,” he said in a bubbly voice. “Um, but anyway, you seem to really like your job.”

“Of course, why else would I subject myself to the yearly adoption of 30 elementary schoolers?” Sugawara said with a small smile on his face. “According to my friends, my life is nothing but children and weddings.”

“Weddings?” Akiteru echoed in a high voice, as if Sugawara had just said the name of his lifelong crush.

“Hm?” Sugawara hummed a little dramatically, and felt his smile grow more devious. “Tsukishima Akiteru, are you going against what Daichi said and planning something outrageously stupid?”

“No! No, of course not. Maybe. I want to. No. Absolutely not. Please don’t laugh at me.” Sugawara held his breath just so he could fulfill that request. “This isn’t about that. For now. I just need to figure everything out for sure before we fly back.”

“Oh.” That surprised Sugawara. Of course the Tsukishimas would have to leave. It wasn’t as if they lived here. “So me giving a speech about how wonderful children are helped you figure that out?”

“I have two very amazing younger siblings, Sugawara-san, I know plenty about how wonderful they are,” he said proudly. “I just wanted to know how well teaching them had gone for you.”

“Well, you heard.” He paused. “Now what? Did it help?”

“Hm… I think so,” Akiteru said. “You know, maybe I have been a little unimpressed with my ability to handle kids lately.”

“How so?” Sugawara asked.

“Mostly because of Kei.” He paused. “I… I really let him down. When I quit. The thing is… I knew that lifestyle wasn’t right for me, and I forgot how many people I’d be letting down when it happened. Hitoka… sometimes I don’t think I deserve a sister like her. She was so good to me and worked twice as hard to improve herself so she could see how much I had done for her already. But I know she probably blamed herself. She always does. But if I just went back to performing to please them, I’d just be letting myself down. Saeko taught me that.”

It was the first family picture Sugawara had heard of the Tsukishimas. A reliable older brother, anxious yet determined sister, and a younger brother with a hidden bundle of low self-esteem tucked under his arm. They sounded like a handful. No wonder Daichi liked them. “So you’ve figured out what to do?”

“Not really,” Akiteru said, but half-laughing. “But I won’t get anything done just sitting around here.”

“Of course you won’t,” Sugawara told him strongly. “Aren’t you the one that dated her? Just go for it! I’m sure she’ll adore your impulsive stupidity. And if it doesn’t work, at least you’ll make her laugh.”

“Daichi’s right, this is the weirdest sense of confidence I’ve ever experienced.”

“What was that?” Sugawara asked.

“It wasn’t anything bad!” Akiteru said quickly. “It’s just that the way he talked about you, I didn’t know if you were a curse or the best thing that had happened to him since…” An audible swallow.

Sugawara cut him off. “It seems people like telling me how much Daichi likes me.”

“It’s hard not to,” Akiteru said with a low whistle. That wasn’t promising. “And I’m happy for him! Daichi’s always had trouble getting close to people, so I’m glad he’s learning to open up. He needs more people to talk about his family to, especially.”

 _Family is something Daichi and Akiteru both value_. Sugawara was an only child, technically, but he knew the feeling well enough. “It’s not like it’s easy for me to get him to talk,” Sugawara said. “But it’s not like I have to know his every secret to annoy him every day.”

“It is pretty admirable how he’s able to deal with so much. It’s mostly for Tobio, you know.” Akiteru hummed. “He cares about his brother more than he does his own life. Tobio’s everything to him, even if that kid doesn’t know it.”

“He’s getting there,” Sugawara told him. “He always tries his best. I’m just glad at least Daichi know how amazing he is.” It was one of the things he liked best about him, after all.

Sugawara could hear Akiteru beaming through his voice. “He used to not show it, you know? Back when we were in college, I almost thought Tobio was more of a nuisance than anything. But back then, Daichi was more confused about his family than ever. It was so chaotic, I think he was just happy to get away from the mess. But that was back when both of his parents were around.”

Sugawara stopped moving. Daichi’s parents, the people Ennoshita said never to talk to him about.

“When they left, it was if someone had shoved him off a cliff and he managed to survive. It was almost kind of terrifying to watch. He seemed to have this realization that nothing was more important than Tobio. He dropped out of school, moved back home, and didn’t even call me until I brought the kids down to visit and he was struggling to revive his dad’s store. And… it was like a whole different person. It was like he’d aged twenty years in two days.”

“Yeah,” Sugawara managed to say, albeit slowly. “He does seem like that, doesn’t he?”

“It was pretty weird finally meeting his brother after all of those changes. It’s like everything Daichi had ever said about his family had taken a whole different light. I mean, the first thing Tobio did was make Hitoka cry. I wasn’t impressed. I thought it would be hard to change my opinion of him after that.”

“Of course,” Sugawara hissed, and brought a hand to his face. Of course Tobio’s first impression was making a girl cry.

“But you know Tobio! Probably better than I do, you’re the one who spends time with him if Daichi’s telling the truth. He just started to look a lot more frustrated than anything.”

“He has a hard time understanding social cues,” Sugawara explained. “He’s not very in touch with his sensitive side, so he doesn’t know how to receive information if it’s not direct.”

Akiteru groaned. “Well, I only learned that after a while. It’s just that Daichi liked to take control of the situation. He just thought it was safer if Tobio didn’t know what had happened. But Tobio’s a smart kid, so why wouldn’t he know he wasn’t getting the entire picture? We’re friends and all, since college, but Daichi would be a lot more admirable if he just told his brother about what was really going on in his family.” And in a smaller voice, “About his mom.”

The world seemed to come to a stop. “What? His mom?”

“Huh?” Akiteru said, as if Sugawara was supposed to understand. “Yeah, that’s right. Tobio’s mom.”

Daichi had told him about this before. What was her name? Oh, god. “She was… Yume? Yoko?” Sugawara shook his head. “Youko. That’s her name. Sawamura Youko?”

“ _Youko!?_ ” Akiteru said, his complete change in tone caught Sugawara so off-guard, he almost slipped on a patch of ice. “And, wait _Sawamura_ Youko? Daichi never told you… Oh, crap, of course he wouldn’t, he hates… I thought that he’d have told you about her already since he likes you so much. He just seems to _trust_ you, he always says you get it and—”

“Akiteru,” Sugawara interrupted him, feeling as if his breath was fading. “Daichi told me Youko was Tobio’s mother.”

“Technically… he wasn’t lying? She technically is…”

“Akiteru, ‘technically’ isn’t the truth,” Sugawara said, a lot colder.

“I don’t think it’s something I should be telling…”

And it was true. Sugawara was prying way too much to be uncovering the Sawamura family secrets through Daichi’s best friend, but even though it didn’t matter to him it mattered to _Tobio_. “Akiteru, what is Daichi not telling Tobio about his own family?”

“Suga!”

At the all-too familiar voice, Sugawara yelped and dropped his phone into the snow. As he scrambled to regain composure, Daichi barreled into him, expression frantic and hands grabbing Sugawara’s arms so he wouldn’t lose balance on the icy sidewalk. Sugawara, in complete shock over Daichi’s overall presence, was speechless.

“Daichi?” He said, close to horrified. He couldn’t help but panic at the sudden sight of his face so shortly after such personal conversations.

“I’ve been looking everywhere for you,” Daichi said. He was so short of breath. “Because first Asahi tells me he told you to meet my ex-girlfriend, and then I have to stress about it for the rest of the workday until Ennoshita tells me to leave, and then you’re not at the gym, or anywhere around town, and I forgot my phone at the office, and…” Daichi groaned and puts his face in his hands. Sugawara couldn’t help but stare. “You’ve already talked to her, haven’t you?”

“You’re pretty late for that,” Sugawara said, managing to crack a smile at Daichi’s rare impulsiveness.

“She’s just…” Daichi waved his hands. “It feels weird letting you talk to her. She’s a good friend of mine, it’s really easy to misunderstand, especially the way you met her, but she’s… she doesn’t have a filter. I don’t know what she would have said to you. I didn’t know how much she actually liked you.”

That was right, his and Yuri's meeting wasn't exactly storybook. It wasn’t something that surprised Sugawara anymore. “What, were you worried about me, Daichi?” he teased instinctively, but it didn’t have the same charm. “That she would spill all of your dirty little secrets about your past relationships and scandals?” Which is exactly what she did, not that Daichi had to know.

“That’s—!” Daichi blushed, bright red and completely flustered, and it’s as if Sugawara’s brain completely shut down. _He was talking about something important before this. Something important, something important…_ “Anyways, weren’t you on the phone, what happened to it?”

That brought Sugawara to attention. And everything came rushing back. “Oh,” Sugawara said, and fished his phone out of the snow. It was off. Not cracked, but his call had ended, at least. He wasn’t sure how to feel about it. “Oops.”

“Sorry,” Daichi said stiffly. “I was… I don’t know why I was so frantic, it’s just… been bothering me all day. You guys talking.”

He was genuinely embarrassed about rushing in and acting like this in front of Sugawara.  It was earnest, too, and Sugawara almost didn’t want to confront him at all about Tobio.

But it was Tobio, and this wasn’t something like scaring Daichi away with his stupid feelings. He could feel the blood rush to his neck in panic, and his hands clam up under his gloves.

“It’s alright,” Sugawara assured him, in a lack of better words to say. “It still turns on. The snow was merciful to it.”

“That’s good,” Daichi said between breaths. “You’re fine. That’s good,” he repeated, and looked up at Sugawara.

And for a moment, Daichi’s relieved expression felt so genuine that Sugawara couldn’t possibly believe that he’d lie to Tobio for all these years with a straight face. He could stand here and stare at the handsome lines of Daichi’s face and relish the lingering warmth of his touch. Maybe he could just pretend Akiteru had never slipped up, and Daichi was as put together and confident as he always had been, as Sugawara always depended on him to be for him.

 _But maybe_ , Sugawara thought, daringly, _he never was_.

“Daichi,” Sugawara said at last,

“Yeah, Suga?” he said, straightening up, and then he saw the look in Sugawara’s eyes.

“I need to ask you something,” Sugawara told him, and took Daichi’s arm in his hand. The cold air seemed to envelop around them, like an icy prison. “It’s about Tobio.”

He blinked, confused. “Tobio? What did she say—”

“No, Daichi, I…” Sugawara took a moment to get his words together, go over them, and breathe until his self-confidence fell back into place. “Daichi, you trust me, right?”

“What? Of course I do, don’t be stupid,” Daichi said.

Sugawara’s grip tightened, if only slightly. He pushed aside his feelings, and met Daichi’s determined eyes.

 _Just ask him, now, or you never will._  

 

* * *

 

“I think Coach actually likes Sugawara-san. As a person.”

Tobio grunted and wolfed down his protein bar instead of replying. Partially because gymnastics ate away at a lot of his energy, but mostly because he didn’t want to admit Kiyoko was probably right.

“But she really likes Sawamura-san, your brother, not just as a person, I mean,” Kiyoko continued, unfazed as she sat down next to Tobio.

“I know,” Tobio said. He wasn’t happy about it; Yuri wasn’t subtle about it at all. He couldn’t admit to Kiyoko that he didn’t like her coach, though. “She never leaves,” he put simply.

“…I would have liked to have supported her,” Kiyoko admitted.

“What?” Tobio turned to see Kiyoko’s distant expression. “Why? She’s obviously not coming back.”

“Well, I know how it’s like to like someone who won’t like you back.” She looked Tobio dead in the eye as she said it, and it made the words disappear from his throat. A solemn air fell over them, and for once, Tobio felt a sliver of sympathy for Mizushima Yuri as he pushed another face out of his mind. “But I think they’ve already settled that. It just seemed so depressing and I wanted to be hopeful about it, you know?”

Tobio didn’t know, though. He’d never thought about the possibility of actually dating Hinata as a real thing. He had an overwhelming personality, was older than Tobio, and, up until recently, had evaded him like the plague. He never even thought about confessing. Hopeful was making sure Hinata graduated without ever knowing.

So he said, “Not really.”

Kiyoko’s lips were pressed thin, a distressed version of the cold indifference Tobio used to see her carry, like she was fighting something within herself. It felt all too familiar to him. “When… When I came out to my parents, it was the hardest time I ever went through.”

Tobio’s throat went dry.

“I still don’t think that my mom really believes I’m… gay.” She struggled to get the word out. “And it’s so lonely because you feel as if you can’t even breathe around them, can’t look them in the eye because you’re suffocating.” She took in a sharp breath. “And then I told Hitoka-chan, because I couldn’t lie to her.”

That… That wasn’t what he was expecting. “You what?”

“She was telling me about her brother and Saeko-san,” Kiyoko explained earnestly, sensing Tobio’s panic. “And told me that she wanted to have a relationship like theirs sometime and… she asked me if I was interested in anyone. And she was so flustered and kept on mentioning boys like she was trying to convince herself that I was into someone. But then it just slipped out that I… didn’t like any of them. Because I liked girls.”

Tobio was reminded of the conversation he had with Suga just a couple days ago. Trying to think of someone other than Hinata that he could possibly have feelings for. Trying to think about relationships or intimacy at all. He wondered how Kiyoko thought about it. It felt too surreal for him to understand. “You guys are still friends.”

At that, Kiyoko smiled. “She turned so red, you should have seen her. She apologized so many times, but I didn’t want to admit I really liked seeing her get embarrassed.” Her shoulders slumped. “I didn’t know back then, about my feeling for her. But I felt so relieved. I told Coach the next day and she told me being a lesbian wasn’t going to improve my bar routine. It was really freeing.”

“It’s like when I told Sugawara-san,” Tobio said, tensing when Kiyoko looked his way. She was still smiling.

“I like hearing Coach talk about Sugawara-san’s crush on your brother,” she laughed. Tobio thought it was the lightest she’d ever looked. “She complains about it so openly. I think I just like hearing about other people who are gay. It makes me feel less weird.”

“He was the first person I’d ever talked to that I could talk about my feelings for Hinata-sempai,” Tobio admitted. “I remember seeing the way he stared at Daichi at the wedding and I felt really relieved.” He sighed. “At first I was just desperate for Daichi to get over all of those girls and get a life, but when I saw him and Sugawara-san together I didn’t want to let that go. Sugawara-san liked volleyball, I could talk to him easily, he could take care of Dai-nii, and—”

“Dai-nii?” Tobio’s head shot up, and Kiyoko slapped a hand over her mouth. It was obvious she was hiding her laugh. Tobio felt the blood rush to his face.

“I don’t call him that anymore!” Tobio snapped, and Kiyoko turned away. “Shut up, I got sappy!”

“But you actually really like your brother, right?” Tobio stopped. “I thought you didn’t when I first met you, but I think I was just comparing you to Hitoka’s family. You guys care about each other differently.”

Tobio opened his mouth to respond, something akin to “I don’t care about Daichi, it doesn’t even matter,” except it did. And he did. And Kiyoko was talking too much, and he didn’t want to argue and somehow prove her any more right than she thought she was. Kiyoko had an uncanny ability to move things her way.

She pursed her lips. “…Do you think you’ll ever tell him?”

His chest clenched. “About Hinata-sempai?”

“About your sexuality, yes.”

“I don’t know.”

“I told my parents and Hitoka because I felt as if I couldn’t lie to them forever,” Kiyoko said, and Tobio could see her fingers tangle together in anxiousness. “Even though they were the last people I should have told. I think they deserve my honesty, at least.”

“It’s not the same,” Tobio said.

“How?” Kiyoko asked. 

 

* * *

 

“Will you tell me what you’re hiding about Tobio’s mother?” Sugawara asked.

Daichi’s eyes widened, and his body fell limp. Sugawara could feel the silence enveloped them, icier than the air around them, as guilt washed up in his eyes and Sugawara knew that his fears were true.

 

* * *

 

Tobio’s hands curled into fists, as he thought back to the first time Daichi came home and saw Tobio all alone. The look he had in his eyes, like everything had just disappeared in an instant, and he had been the only one to see. Tobio had never seen an expression so raw and terrified. It was so different than any other expression he’d seen on Daichi since.

“Daichi’s always lied to me.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, a long list of [TWB trivia](http://metisinkold.tumblr.com/post/129830097364/) for the soul.  
> Also if you'd like one, TWB's official tag is #twbfic.

**Author's Note:**

> [Personal](http://biijoubee.tumblr.com/) | [Writing Blog](http://metisink.tumblr.com/) | [Twitter](https://twitter.com/metis_ink)


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